Counties / Illinois / Perry County

Perry County, IL

FIPS 17145 · population 20,639 · outside every metro area

$111k
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
$111k
▼ 1.0% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$728
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
$916
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+61.7%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−1.0%FHFA HPI2025+15.9%
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$113k
Surveyed gross rent$728
Rent burden 30%+49.3%
Median year built1973
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
14.0%vacant
9,152estimated housing units
Occupied tenure19.1% renter
owner 80.9%renter 19.1%
Structure mix76.4% single-family
Single-family 76.4%20+ units 3.0%Mobile home 11.0%Other 9.6%
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 jobs4,434▼ 4.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments324annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$981▲ 1.3% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities28.3% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−4.1%WEEKLY WAGE+1.3%Trade, transportation, and utilities28.3%
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

Perry County presents a value-versus-validation tension: Zillow’s June 2026 median home value is $111,312, yet local operating income is unmeasured and demand indicators are mixed. It merits investigation by buyers able to verify property-level rents, taxes, and seismic costs; buyers needing demonstrable cash flow or resale evidence should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Zillow’s value fell 1.01% year over year, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 15.92% annually and 61.66% over five years. These are different vintages and methods: the opposing directions do not establish a unified appreciation rate or current dollar value. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $916 per month, but it is a payment standard, not asking rent. No market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. An effective property-tax rate of 1.61% and median annual tax of $1,807 sharpen carrying-cost diligence but are not linked to a subject parcel.

03Demand & competition

QCEW’s 2025 annual average records 4,434 covered jobs at county workplaces, down 4.07%; it is not resident employment or an unemployment measure. The covered-worker average weekly wage was $981, up 1.34%. Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, representing 28.28% of private covered jobs. Out-movers exceeded in-movers, and their average income was a calculated $1,225 higher. Non-occupant investors represented 4.63% of 108 purchase mortgages, limited visible investor competition but not total buyer activity. For June 2026, no Realtor.com listing, inventory, marketing-time, or reduction data are published, preventing an MLS-based read on liquidity and seller concessions.

04Risk & next checks

Earthquake is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual climate loss equals 0.20% of building value. That county-level model is not a parcel loss estimate, but it makes seismic exposure and insurance availability central screens. No vacancy, actual market rent, operating expenses, insurance quotes, debt terms, parcel tax bill, or property condition evidence is published; without them, an underwriter cannot establish net income, debt coverage, resale depth, or site-specific loss exposure. Next checks are comparable leases, parcel taxes, seismic and insurance diligence, and MLS listing history.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Perry 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
Du Quoin city5.7KPinckneyville city5KTamaroa village597Willisville village467Cutler village302St. Johns village184
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

6 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Du Quoin cityIncorporated place
    5,726
  2. 02
    Pinckneyville cityIncorporated place
    5,018
  3. 03
    Tamaroa villageIncorporated place
    597
  4. 04
    Willisville villageIncorporated place
    467
  5. 05
    Cutler villageIncorporated place
    302
  6. 06
    St. Johns villageIncorporated place
    184

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 hazardearthquake

0.201% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.60%

$1,807 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-54

342 in · 396 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$1,225

$43,199 arriving · $44,424 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.6%

5 of 108 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. Comparable market rents may not support acquisition and carrying costs.
  2. Employment and migration indicators may not support tenant or exit depth.
  3. Parcel-level earthquake exposure, insurance terms, and taxes may exceed county-level assumptions.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is a market-rent-based gross yield available?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD FMR is a payment standard that cannot substitute for market rent.

What does the labor series show?

Annual covered employment at county workplaces declined from the prior annual average; it is not a resident-employment or unemployment measure.

Does the investor measure describe all buyer activity?

No. It measures non-occupant participation in purchase mortgages, not total buyer activity.