Counties / Kentucky / Johnson County

Johnson County, KY

FIPS 21115 · population 22,334 · outside every metro area

$140k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$140k
▼ 9.4% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$708
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$866
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+33.8%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−9.4%FHFA HPI2025+7.1%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$120k
Surveyed gross rent$708
Rent burden 30%+42.5%
Median year built1983
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
14.6%vacant
10,583estimated housing units
Occupied tenure31.7% renter
owner 68.3%renter 31.7%
Structure mix59.5% single-family
Single-family 59.5%20+ units 2.4%Mobile home 27.4%Other 10.7%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs5,321▼ 0.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments631annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$881▲ 6.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities38.8% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.6%WEEKLY WAGE+6.8%Trade, transportation, and utilities38.8%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Johnson County presents a price-signal conflict rather than a clean entry case. Zillow’s June 2026 county median home value is $139,906, down 9.39% year over year, while FHFA’s 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 7.07%. These are different methods and vintages: the HPI is not a home value. Investors needing current resale support should validate subject-level closed-sale comparables; those relying on broad appreciation evidence should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Income underwriting is the central gap. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $866 per month is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. The effective property-tax rate is 0.66%, and the median annual tax bill is $792; both inform carrying costs but neither establishes a particular property’s tax bill or rent coverage.

03Demand & competition

Demand evidence is mixed and limited to county-level proxies. QCEW’s 2025 annual covered employment at county workplaces fell 0.58%; this is not resident employment or unemployment. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Net tax-return migration was negative 14, and average AGI for movers in was $4,402 below movers out. Investors accounted for 3 of 141 purchase mortgages, a 2.13% share; that records non-owner mortgage activity, not all buyer competition.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled annual climate loss equals 0.44% of building value and is consistent with inland flood as the dominant hazard, but it does not establish parcel exposure, flood-insurance cost, or actual loss. Realtor.com listing price, active-listing, days-on-market, pending, and price-reduction figures are not published, preventing assessment of visible MLS supply, seller concessions, and marketing time. Next checks are subject rents and leases, closed-sale comparables, flood-zone and insurance evidence, and the property’s actual tax bill.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Johnson County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Paintsville city4.2KWest Van Lear CDP1.2KVan Lear CDP443
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

3 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Paintsville cityIncorporated place
    4,203
  2. 02
    West Van Lear CDPCensus-designated place
    1,155
  3. 03
    Van Lear CDPCensus-designated place
    443

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.445% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.66%

$792 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-14

380 in · 394 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$4,402

$45,245 arriving · $49,647 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors2.1%

3 of 141 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Subject rents may not support carrying costs because market rent is unpublished.
  2. The conflicting Zillow value and FHFA index directions may resolve differently within a property’s submarket.
  3. Inland-flood exposure and insurance costs can differ materially by parcel.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can HUD FMR be used to calculate gross yield?

No. It is a payment standard rather than measured market rent, and market rent is not published.

Which price measure is a repeat-transaction index rather than a home value?

FHFA HPI is the repeat-transaction appreciation index; Zillow supplies the county median home value.

What does the investor-share measure establish?

It measures purchase mortgages to non-occupants and therefore does not capture all-cash activity or prove the overall level of buyer competition.