Counties / Minnesota / Mahnomen County

Mahnomen County, MN

FIPS 27087 · population 5,358 · outside every metro area

$180k
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
$180k
▲ 6.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$696
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
$973
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.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+44.8%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+6.9%FHFA HPI2025+17.7%
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$696
Rent burden 30%+34.7%
Median year built1975
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
26.0%vacant
2,547estimated housing units
Occupied tenure26.7% renter
owner 73.3%renter 26.7%
Structure mix80.9% single-family
Single-family 80.9%20+ units 3.2%Mobile home 8.8%Other 7.1%
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 jobs2,028▲ 2.0% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments121annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,035▼ 6.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities32.7% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+2.0%WEEKLY WAGE−6.2%Trade, transportation, and utilities32.7%
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

Mahnomen County presents an appreciation-versus-underwriting tension: Zillow’s county median home value was $180,182 in 2026-06, while MLS marketing conditions look less urgent and market rent is unpublished. The record merits investigation by buyers able to verify property-level rents, sales and flood costs; yield-dependent underwriting should remain cautious rather than treating price direction as income support.

02Housing economics

Zillow’s value observation is separate from FHFA’s repeat-transaction HPI, which rose 17.73% in 2025 and 44.84% cumulatively over five years. This supports positive price direction, but the HPI is not a home value and its annual and five-year readings cannot be averaged with Zillow’s figure. No market asking rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s $973 monthly two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.93%, with $1,509 median annual tax; parcel assessments and tax bills still matter.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS evidence argues for careful comp work: 17 active listings, a median 95 days on market, and price reductions on 17.41% of listings indicate visible supply and seller concessions. These are asking-market measures, not closed-sale prices or standalone proof of buyer demand. Tax-return migration was negative by 46 households, although inbound movers reported higher average income than outbound movers. Investor purchase mortgages were 2 of 34 purchases, or 5.88%; that shows limited financed non-occupant participation, not total investor ownership.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.09% of building value per year; this is a modeled expected-loss ratio, not a subject-property insurance quote. QCEW’s 2025 data describe annual covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment or an outlook: employment increased, average weekly covered-worker wages declined, and Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the county’s whole economy. Missing rent, vacancy, operating expenses, insurance quotes, parcel tax history and closed-sale comps prevent conclusions on NOI, cash flow, purchase pricing and flood exposure. Verify those items at the property and neighborhood level.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Mahnomen 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
Mahnomen city1KNaytahwaush CDP478Waubun city419Riverland CDP239Twin Lakes CDP197Bejou city109Beaulieu CDP63Roy Lake CDP*61
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

12 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Mahnomen cityIncorporated place
    1,049
  2. 02
    Naytahwaush CDPCensus-designated place
    478
  3. 03
    Waubun cityIncorporated place
    419
  4. 04
    Riverland CDPCensus-designated place
    239
  5. 05
    Twin Lakes CDPCensus-designated place
    197
  6. 06
    Bejou cityIncorporated place
    109
  7. 07
    Beaulieu CDPCensus-designated place
    63
  8. 08
    Roy Lake CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    61
  9. 09
    Midway CDPCensus-designated place
    35
  10. 10
    West Roy Lake CDPCensus-designated place
    30
  11. 11
    Pine Bend CDPCensus-designated place
    11
  12. 12
    The Ranch CDPCensus-designated place
    3

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

0.092% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.93%

$1,509 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-46

69 in · 115 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$6,583

$55,174 arriving · $48,591 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors5.9%

2 of 34 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 listings17▲ 50.0% year over year
Median days on market95▲ 49.4% year over year
Listings price-reduced17.4%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 3.7% 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; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Actual rents, vacancy, operating expenses, insurance and financing terms may overturn property-level economics.
  2. Flood modeling may diverge from parcel floodplain status, insurance availability and actual loss experience.
  3. Small transaction and listing counts may change materially with limited additional activity.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be substituted for market rent.

What does the FHFA HPI measure here?

It is a repeat-transaction appreciation index, not a dollar home value or a market-rent measure.

What investor purchase-mortgage participation is reported?

Investor purchase mortgages represent 5.88% of reported purchases.