Counties / Alabama / Limestone County

Limestone County, AL

FIPS 01083 · population 111,233 · part of Huntsville, AL

$324k
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
$324k
▲ 0.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,540
▲ 2.6% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
5.7%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,310
market rent is 1.18x the 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.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+57.8%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+0.9%FHFA HPI2025+2.6%
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$281k
Surveyed gross rent$970
Rent burden 30%+40.8%
Median year built1998
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
7.7%vacant
44,354estimated housing units
Occupied tenure22.4% renter
owner 77.6%renter 22.4%
Structure mix80.0% single-family
Single-family 80.0%20+ units 3.0%Mobile home 9.4%Other 7.6%
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 jobs34,736▲ 1.9% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments2,265annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,233▲ 2.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing30.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.9%WEEKLY WAGE+2.2%Manufacturing30.2%
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

Limestone County presents an income-versus-resale tension. At Zillow’s 2026-06 county observation, median home value was $324,263 and median asking market rent was $1,540 monthly, producing the supplied 5.70% gross yield before costs. Asking rent increased 2.63% year over year while Zillow’s value measure increased 0.91%. Buyers able to verify leases and operating costs should investigate; those depending on near-term resale should be cautious. County medians are not an asset valuation or submarket result.

02Housing economics

Carrying costs could narrow headline yield: the effective property-tax rate is 0.32% and median annual tax is $900, but neither substitutes for a parcel bill or operating statement. The $1,310 HUD two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not asking-rent evidence, and must not be used to calculate yield. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI increased 2.58%; it supports a positive price direction but is not a dollar home value. Its vintage and method differ from Zillow’s county observation, so the changes cannot be blended.

03Demand & competition

Demand indicators require a split reading. QCEW’s 2025 annual measure covers jobs at county workplaces rather than resident employment; Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. In Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS listing market, active listings were up 12.76% year over year, median marketing time was 66 days, 16.98% of listings had reductions, and the pending ratio was 44.95%. This records visible supply and seller concessions, not closed-sale prices or demand by itself. Tax-return migration was net positive, yet inbound movers’ average AGI was $1,611 below outbound movers’. Investors represented 6.31% of purchase mortgages, participation that should be assessed alongside owner-buyer activity rather than treated as price-setting proof.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.16% of building value. That county model is a diligence flag, not a building-specific expected loss. The record does not publish flood-zone, elevation, insurance quotes or claims history, rent comps, vacancy, operating expenses, condition, or closed-sale comparables. Their absence prevents underwriting net yield, flood carrying cost, and an exit-value conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Limestone 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
Huntsville city*222.8KMadison city*60.1KDecatur city*57.4KAthens city29KArdmore town1.4KElkmont town264Lester town181Mooresville town81
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

8 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Huntsville cityIncorporated place · spans 3 counties
    222,791
  2. 02
    Madison cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    60,106
  3. 03
    Decatur cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    57,361
  4. 04
    Athens cityIncorporated place
    29,002
  5. 05
    Ardmore townIncorporated place
    1,384
  6. 06
    Elkmont townIncorporated place
    264
  7. 07
    Lester townIncorporated place
    181
  8. 08
    Mooresville townIncorporated place
    81

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

0.156% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.32%

$900 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+1,153

3,945 in · 2,792 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$1,611

$74,044 arriving · $75,655 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors6.3%

159 of 2,521 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 listings937▲ 12.8% year over year
Median days on market66▲ 1.9% year over year
Listings price-reduced17.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 7.4% year over year

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

Same metro

The other counties in Huntsville, AL

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
Limestone County111,233$324k$1,5405.7%inland flooding
Madison County405,718$316k$1,3715.2%inland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Property-level flood exposure, insurance cost, and claims history may differ materially from the county modeled loss.
  2. County median rent and gross yield may not match achievable rent, vacancy, or expenses for a specific asset.
  3. MLS asking-market signals may not translate into closed-sale pricing or buyer demand.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is market rent published?

Yes. The record reports market asking rent separately from HUD two-bedroom Fair Market Rent, which is a payment standard.

Does QCEW measure employment among county residents?

No. It measures annual covered jobs located at workplaces in the county.

What hazard should property diligence prioritize?

Inland flood is identified as the dominant hazard.