Counties / Nebraska / Perkins County

Perkins County, NE

FIPS 31135 · population 2,821 · outside every metro area

$226k
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
$226k
▼ 2.4% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$922
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
$961
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 ZHVI2026-06−2.4%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$157k
Surveyed gross rent$922
Rent burden 30%+31.2%
Median year built1951
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
12.3%vacant
1,359estimated housing units
Occupied tenure21.3% renter
owner 78.7%renter 21.3%
Structure mix89.4% single-family
Single-family 89.4%20+ units 2.7%Mobile home 5.3%Other 2.6%
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 jobs1,144▲ 1.9% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments144annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,098▲ 5.5% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities43.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.9%WEEKLY WAGE+5.5%Trade, transportation, and utilities43.5%
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

Perkins County presents an incomplete-income underwriting tension: Zillow’s county median home value was $225,818 in 2026-06, down 2.36% year over year, but the record supplies no market rent to test income against that value. This warrants investigation by buyers prepared to source property-level leases, expenses, and flood details; those relying on modeled appreciation or a precomputed yield should be cautious. The value movement is a Zillow observation, not a closed-sale result, and no FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI observation is supplied to corroborate or challenge its direction.

02Housing economics

HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $961 per month, but it is a payment standard rather than market asking rent. With market rent not published, gross yield cannot be computed and should not be inferred from FMR. The effective property-tax rate is 1.00%, with a median annual tax of $1,574; these are carrying-cost inputs rather than a rent-affordability test. Underwrite actual lease terms and tax bills by parcel, since the county median value and countywide median tax do not establish economics for a particular house.

03Demand & competition

In 2025, QCEW reports 1,144 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces, up 1.87% from the prior annual average. These are not resident jobs, unemployment, or a forecast. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, which narrows the employment read rather than describing the whole economy. Tax-return migration showed 66 inbound and 58 outbound moving households, while incoming movers’ average AGI exceeded outgoing movers’ by $1,472. This is not proof of rental absorption. Investors accounted for 4 of 27 purchases, a 14.81% share of purchase mortgages to non-occupants; it signals some buyer participation but not future demand.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the named dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.11% of building value per year; it is a modeled ratio, not a dollar loss or a site-specific insurance quote. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active listings, marketing time, and reduction data are not published, preventing a read on visible supply, seller concessions, or asking-price competition. Next checks are parcel flood exposure and insurance availability, lease and operating statements, current tax assessment, and closed-sale and MLS records. These gaps prevent a defensible cash-flow, resale-comparability, and liquidity conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Perkins 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
Grant city1.4KMadrid village226Venango village182Elsie village139
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

4 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Grant cityIncorporated place
    1,413
  2. 02
    Madrid villageIncorporated place
    226
  3. 03
    Venango villageIncorporated place
    182
  4. 04
    Elsie villageIncorporated place
    139

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

0.107% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.00%

$1,574 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+8

66 in · 58 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$1,472

$61,455 arriving · $59,983 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors14.8%

4 of 27 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. Actual leases, vacancy, and operating costs may not support acceptable property-level cash flow.
  2. Flood exposure, insurance availability, or mitigation needs may differ materially by parcel from the county-level model.
  3. Missing MLS and closed-sale evidence may make pricing, supply, and resale-liquidity assumptions unreliable.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be used as a substitute for market asking rent.

What does the HUD two-bedroom FMR represent?

It is a $961 monthly payment standard, not an estimate of county market rent.

What employment measure is available?

QCEW reports 1,144 annual average covered jobs located at county workplaces in 2025, not resident employment or unemployment.