Counties / Kansas / Pratt County

Pratt County, KS

FIPS 20151 · population 9,127 · outside every metro area

$133k
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
$133k
▲ 2.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$802
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
$877
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+36.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+2.9%FHFA HPI2025−0.4%
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$115k
Surveyed gross rent$802
Rent burden 30%+47.4%
Median year built1956
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
20.5%vacant
4,364estimated housing units
Occupied tenure26.8% renter
owner 73.2%renter 26.8%
Structure mix85.7% single-family
Single-family 85.7%20+ units 2.9%Mobile home 4.5%Other 7.0%
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 jobs4,637▲ 1.7% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments391annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$945▲ 0.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities29.0% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.7%WEEKLY WAGE+0.7%Trade, transportation, and utilities29.0%
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

Pratt County has an underwriting tension: Zillow’s rising value measure conflicts with a declining FHFA transaction index while market rent is unpublished. Investors relying on appreciation or rent-based returns should seek property evidence before treating the county as supportive. Zillow’s county median home value was $132,746 in 2026-06, up 2.91% year over year. The FHFA repeat-transaction HPI for annual 2025 fell 0.35%. These methods and periods differ: HPI is not a home value, and their changes cannot be combined.

02Housing economics

Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $877 per month is a payment standard, not market asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. Against the value measure, carrying costs still require parcel review: the effective property-tax rate is 1.74%, and median annual tax is $1,993. Insurance, lease rents, vacancy, repair needs, and utility responsibility are not published; without them, net operating income and debt-service coverage cannot be tested.

03Demand & competition

QCEW reports 4,637 annual covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment or unemployment. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, requiring property-level tenant and employer concentration checks. Tax-return migration was net -14 households; average AGI was $41,224 for movers in and $52,595 for movers out. This identifies lower-income arrivals among recorded movers, not countywide demand. Non-occupant purchase mortgages were 10 of 80 purchases, or 12.5%: a visible buyer segment, not proof of pricing power or rental strategy.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.17% of building value; it is neither a site-specific insurance quote nor a dollar loss. Realtor.com evidence for 2026-06 is not published: MLS median listing price, active listings, days on market, and price-reduced share are absent. This prevents a read on visible supply, asking-price concessions, and marketing time. Next checks are flood exposure, insurance, lease comps, assessment, condition, and current MLS history.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Pratt 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
Pratt city6.6KIuka city231Preston city111Coats city109Cullison city97Sawyer city76Byers city11
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

7 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Pratt cityIncorporated place
    6,577
  2. 02
    Iuka cityIncorporated place
    231
  3. 03
    Preston cityIncorporated place
    111
  4. 04
    Coats cityIncorporated place
    109
  5. 05
    Cullison cityIncorporated place
    97
  6. 06
    Sawyer cityIncorporated place
    76
  7. 07
    Byers cityIncorporated place
    11

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

0.170% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.74%

$1,993 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-14

201 in · 215 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$11,371

$41,224 arriving · $52,595 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors12.5%

10 of 80 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. Countywide value and employment measures may not represent a target neighborhood, property condition, or tenant segment.
  2. Unpublished market rent, operating costs, and MLS liquidity can overturn property-level return or exit assumptions.
  3. Inland-flood exposure and insurance terms can differ materially by parcel from the county modeled loss ratio.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed.

Does the HUD FMR establish prevailing asking rent?

No. It is a two-bedroom payment standard, not an estimate of market asking rent.

Is an investor buyer segment documented?

Yes. Non-occupant purchase mortgages are reported as a share of purchases, but the record does not establish their bid behavior or rental strategy.