Counties / Michigan / Oscoda County

Oscoda County, MI

FIPS 26135 · population 8,425 · outside every metro area

$148k
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
$148k
▲ 3.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$681
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+74.7%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.5%FHFA HPI2025+12.6%
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$126k
Surveyed gross rent$681
Rent burden 30%+39.9%
Median year built1974
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
50.9%vacant
7,719estimated housing units
Occupied tenure12.8% renter
owner 87.3%renter 12.8%
Structure mix82.7% single-family
Single-family 82.7%20+ units 1.0%Mobile home 14.9%Other 1.4%
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 jobs1,363▼ 0.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments207annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$786▲ 1.4% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorLeisure and hospitality26.0% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.1%WEEKLY WAGE+1.4%Leisure and hospitality26.0%
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

Oscoda County is a price-appreciation screen with a rental-underwriting gap: the Zillow county median home value was $147,606 in 2026-06, up 3.50% year over year, but measured market asking rent is not published. The 2025 FHFA repeat-transaction HPI rose 12.60% annually, giving a positive direction through a different method and vintage; it is not a comparable home value. Investors dependent on current cash flow should be cautious; investigators able to obtain local leases, insurance quotes, and property-level flood records have a narrower price-and-risk question to resolve.

02Housing economics

HUD’s $973 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than an asking-rent estimate, so it cannot fill that gap and gross yield cannot be calculated. The effective property-tax rate is 0.94%; median annual property tax is $1,177. These measures provide carrying-cost context alongside the reported home value but are not property-specific. Absent market rent, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, and financing data prevent a net-income conclusion. FHFA’s 74.74% cumulative five-year change is historical index movement, not evidence of today’s value or rental return.

03Demand & competition

Tax-return records show net migration of 67 households and an incoming-versus-outgoing average AGI gap of $25,058. That composition does not establish renter demand. Investor borrowers represented 4.46% of 112 purchase mortgages, visible but limited participant competition rather than proof of an investor-led market. QCEW recorded 1,363 annual covered jobs at county workplaces, down 0.07%; this is not resident employment or an unemployment measure. Its largest disclosed private supersector was Leisure and hospitality, which does not describe the entire county economy.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss equals 0.08% of building value annually, and inland flood is the dominant hazard; this model metric is not a property loss estimate and requires parcel flood-zone, claims, deductible, coverage, and mitigation review. Realtor.com figures for the MLS listing market—median asking price, active listings, days on market, and price-reduced share—are not published here. Therefore visible supply, seller concessions, and marketing time cannot be assessed, while none would substitute for closed sales. Missing market rents, lease-up, vacancy, utility, repair, insurance, and property-condition evidence prevents a defensible gross-yield, net-cash-flow, or site-risk conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Oscoda 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
Mio CDP1.5K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

1 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Mio CDPCensus-designated place
    1,474

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

0.076% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.94%

$1,177 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+67

275 in · 208 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$25,058

$60,909 arriving · $35,851 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.5%

5 of 112 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. Market rent, vacancy, operating-cost, and financing data are unpublished, so observed price appreciation may not support cash flow.
  2. Countywide modeled flood loss may conceal parcel-specific flood exposure, insurance availability, and mitigation costs.
  3. Tax-return migration and covered workplace employment may not translate into sustained renter demand, while low investor participation does not settle buyer competition.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD’s $973 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than market rent.

How much investor purchase participation is reported?

Investor borrowers accounted for 5 of 112 purchase mortgages, or 4.46%.

Which MLS supply and marketing indicators are available?

No Realtor.com median listing price, active-listing count, days-on-market, or price-reduced-share figure is published in the record.