Counties / Georgia / Lanier County

Lanier County, GA

FIPS 13173 · population 10,221 · part of Valdosta, GA

$221k
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
$221k
▲ 4.7% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$913
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
$1,192
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.

One annual series is unavailable
FHFA five-year cumulativen/anot annualized · through n/a
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+4.7%FHFA HPIperiod n/an/a
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$162k
Surveyed gross rent$913
Rent burden 30%+55.2%
Median year built1996
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
16.5%vacant
4,172estimated housing units
Occupied tenure26.8% renter
owner 73.2%renter 26.8%
Structure mix61.9% single-family
Single-family 61.9%20+ units 0.3%Mobile home 35.9%Other 2.0%
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 jobs1,370▼ 2.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments136annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$878▲ 2.3% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorConstruction20.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−2.6%WEEKLY WAGE+2.3%Construction20.5%
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

Lanier County presents a price-versus-execution tension: Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value was $221,473, up 4.71% year over year, while listing-market frictions warrant caution. Investors able to verify rents, flood insurance and property condition should investigate; buyers relying on a quick exit or modeled yield should be cautious. FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI is not published, so Zillow’s direction lacks an independent transaction-index check.

02Housing economics

Income underwriting is unresolved. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $1,192 per month is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent and must not be substituted. The effective property-tax rate is 1.00%, with median annual tax of $1,615; these are carrying-cost inputs, but county medians do not establish a subject property’s tax bill.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS evidence shares Zillow’s 2026-06 label: median listing price rose 7.71% while 36 active listings increased 14.52%. Median marketing time reached 63 days, and 17.34% of listings had price reductions; a 53.52% pending-to-active ratio adds context but is not proof of buyer demand. Tax-return migration was net positive and incoming movers had higher average AGI than outgoing movers. Investor mortgages were a minority of purchases, limiting evidence of broad investor competition.

04Risk & next checks

Risk limits remain material. Inland flood is dominant, and modeled expected annual building-value loss is 0.12%; this is a model ratio rather than a property-specific loss or insurance quote. QCEW’s 2025 workplace record shows 1,370 covered jobs, down 2.63%; it is neither resident employment nor an unemployment measure. Construction is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the full economy. Obtain lease comps, closed-sale comps, flood-insurance and elevation details, and parcel tax history; without them, achievable rent, net cash flow, resale pricing and property-level hazard exposure cannot be underwritten.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Lanier 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
Lakeland city3KRay City city*852Stockton CDP185
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
    Lakeland cityIncorporated place
    2,968
  2. 02
    Ray City cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    852
  3. 03
    Stockton CDPCensus-designated place
    185

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

0.119% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.00%

$1,615 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+63

393 in · 330 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$5,925

$45,425 arriving · $39,500 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors10.3%

16 of 155 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings36▲ 14.5% year over year
Median days on market63▲ 42.9% year over year
Listings price-reduced17.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 7.7% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

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; for a rent figure, the Valdosta, GA page covers the wider market.
Same metro

The other counties in Valdosta, GA

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Lanier County10,221$221kn/an/ainland flooding
Lowndes County119,965$233k$1,3687.1%inland flooding
Brooks County16,293$194kn/an/ainland flooding
Echols County3,709$178kn/an/ainland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Unpublished market rents and subject-specific operating costs could make the apparent purchase basis unsuitable for the required return.
  2. Flood exposure, insurance availability, or elevation conditions could differ materially from the county-level climate-loss model.
  3. Rising active listings and observed price reductions could make Zillow’s value trend a poor guide to a specific property’s resale execution.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than market asking rent.

Does the MLS record show signs of seller concessions?

Yes. Realtor.com reports that 17.34% of active listings had price reductions, alongside longer marketing time and increased active inventory.

What is the principal physical risk requiring property-level diligence?

Inland flood is the dominant hazard. The supplied model reports expected annual building-value loss of 0.12%, but it does not replace an insurance quote or site-specific elevation review.