Counties / Kentucky / McLean County

McLean County, KY

FIPS 21149 · population 9,114 · part of Owensboro, KY

$155k
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
$155k
▼ 14.6% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$641
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
$1,110
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+46.3%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−14.6%FHFA HPI2025+9.3%
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$149k
Surveyed gross rent$641
Rent burden 30%+40.1%
Median year built1976
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
12.8%vacant
4,173estimated housing units
Occupied tenure17.3% renter
owner 82.8%renter 17.3%
Structure mix74.7% single-family
Single-family 74.7%20+ units 1.1%Mobile home 19.3%Other 4.8%
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 jobs1,716▼ 1.2% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments251annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$869▲ 2.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities24.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.2%WEEKLY WAGE+2.6%Trade, transportation, and utilities24.5%
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

McLean County presents a valuation conflict: a June 2026 Zillow county value observation declined while FHFA's 2025 repeat-transaction index increased. Investors able to validate parcel-level comps and lease economics should investigate; buyers requiring a settled county price signal should be cautious. Zillow's value change was a 14.64% year-over-year decline. Separately, FHFA's annual HPI gained 9.26% and reported a 46.34% cumulative change. FHFA is a repeat-transaction appreciation index, not a home value; its direction challenges Zillow's, but their methods and observation periods cannot be averaged.

02Housing economics

Income economics cannot yet be underwritten. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD's monthly FMR of $1,110 is a payment standard, not a market asking-rent estimate and cannot be used to infer rent or yield. The effective property-tax rate is 0.64%, while median annual tax is not needed to establish the rate burden. Modeled climate loss is 0.27% of building value per year, with inland flood identified as the dominant hazard. Those are separate carrying-cost and hazard screens, not a property-specific insurance quote or loss estimate.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com MLS evidence for June 2026 shows median listing price up 22.63% year over year, alongside 10 active listings and a 48-day median marketing time. These are asking-market and visible-supply measures, not closed-sale pricing or proof of buyer demand. Tax-return mover flows were nearly balanced, while arriving households had average AGI $373 above departing households. Investor purchase mortgages were 4 of 77 total purchases, a 5.19% share, indicating limited measured non-owner participation rather than a basis to infer broader buyer behavior.

04Risk & next checks

Annual QCEW data show covered workplace employment declined while average weekly covered-worker pay increased; Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector. This is workplace employment, not resident employment, unemployment, or an economic forecast. Market rents, closed-sale comps, lease terms, flood-zone and elevation details, insurance quotes, and property condition are not published in the record. Their absence prevents a gross-yield calculation, a supported exit-value conclusion, and a site-specific flood-cost assessment. Next checks are lease comps, recent closed transactions, parcel tax bills, and flood and insurance documentation.

Cities & communities

Where people live within McLean 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
Livermore city1.2KCalhoun city601Island city576Sacramento city317Beech Grove CDP291
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

5 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Livermore cityIncorporated place
    1,223
  2. 02
    Calhoun cityIncorporated place
    601
  3. 03
    Island cityIncorporated place
    576
  4. 04
    Sacramento cityIncorporated place
    317
  5. 05
    Beech Grove CDPCensus-designated place
    291

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

0.272% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.64%

$954 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-2

214 in · 216 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$373

$46,234 arriving · $45,861 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors5.2%

4 of 77 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 listings10▲ 5.3% year over year
Median days on market48▼ 24.8% year over year
Listings price-reduced14.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 22.6% 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 Owensboro, KY page covers the wider market.
Same metro

The other counties in Owensboro, KY

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
McLean County9,114$155kn/an/ainland flooding
Daviess County103,648$222k$1,1716.3%inland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. The conflicting county price measures may not represent an actionable valuation gap after closed-sale comps are reviewed.
  2. Actual lease terms and market rents may not support the carrying costs because rent evidence is not published.
  3. Property-specific flood exposure, insurance availability, or condition may differ materially from county-level modeled risk.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

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

Are Realtor.com listing figures evidence of closed-sale prices?

No. They are MLS asking-market evidence, including visible listings and marketing time.

What private supersector is largest in the disclosed QCEW data?

Trade, transportation, and utilities; it is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole county economy.