Counties / Ohio / Preble County

Preble County, OH

FIPS 39135 · population 40,765 · outside every metro area

$237k
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
$237k
▲ 6.4% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$794
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+54.7%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+6.4%FHFA HPI2025+6.4%
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$181k
Surveyed gross rent$794
Rent burden 30%+37.4%
Median year built1972
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
7.8%vacant
18,140estimated housing units
Occupied tenure20.3% renter
owner 79.7%renter 20.3%
Structure mix88.5% single-family
Single-family 88.5%20+ units 0.9%Mobile home 3.2%Other 7.4%
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 jobs11,520▲ 0.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments806annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,051▲ 3.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing38.3% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.1%WEEKLY WAGE+3.6%Manufacturing38.3%
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

Preble County presents a price-versus-executable-demand tension. In 2026-06, Zillow’s county median home value was $237,294, up 6.38% year over year, while Realtor.com’s median MLS listing price fell 4.03%. Investors able to verify rents and flood costs should investigate; those relying on appreciation headlines or payment standards should be cautious. FHFA’s repeat-transaction HPI rose 6.41% in its 2025 annual observation. It is an index, not a home value, and its method and vintage must not be averaged with Zillow’s change.

02Housing economics

Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $973 per month, but it is a payment standard—not market asking rent—and cannot replace the missing income input. Carrying-cost review should begin with the 1.04% effective property-tax rate and $1,883 median annual tax. Obtain achieved leases, vacancy, utilities, insurance, maintenance and parcel assessments before making a value-to-income or net-cash-flow conclusion.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS evidence includes 64 active listings, a 21.96% price-reduced share and an 87.40% pending-to-active ratio. These are visible supply, seller concessions and listing pipeline; they are neither closed-sale prices nor proof of buyer demand alone. Tax-return migration was net positive by 20 households, while inbound movers’ average AGI was $4,944 above outbound movers’; this is a small flow with a reported income difference, not a broad demand measure. Investor share was 6.63%, calculated from published investor and total purchase counts; participation does not reveal acquisition prices or terms.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is dominant; modeled annual building-value loss is 0.12%. Test this county-level ratio against parcel flood zone, prior losses, elevation, insurance quotes and mitigation because it cannot set asset exposure. QCEW is annual covered employment at county workplaces, not resident employment, unemployment or a forecast; Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the entire economy. Missing closed-sale comparables, market rent, operating costs, financing terms, property-level flood history and insurance prevent conclusions about executable value, gross or net yield, and parcel-level climate risk.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Preble 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
Eaton city8.3KLake Lakengren CDP3.4KCamden village2KLewisburg village1.9KNew Paris village1.6KWest Alexandria village1.3KEldorado village841Gratis village725
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

12 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Eaton cityIncorporated place
    8,339
  2. 02
    Lake Lakengren CDPCensus-designated place
    3,445
  3. 03
    Camden villageIncorporated place
    2,029
  4. 04
    Lewisburg villageIncorporated place
    1,927
  5. 05
    New Paris villageIncorporated place
    1,582
  6. 06
    West Alexandria villageIncorporated place
    1,340
  7. 07
    Eldorado villageIncorporated place
    841
  8. 08
    Gratis villageIncorporated place
    725
  9. 09
    Verona villageIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    653
  10. 10
    College Corner villageIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    429
  11. 11
    West Manchester villageIncorporated place
    341
  12. 12
    West Elkton villageIncorporated place
    148

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

0.123% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.04%

$1,883 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+20

892 in · 872 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$4,944

$52,610 arriving · $47,666 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors6.6%

26 of 392 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 listings64▼ 2.3% year over year
Median days on market39▼ 13.3% year over year
Listings price-reduced22.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 4.0% 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; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Unpublished market rent and operating costs could make the observed price level incompatible with required property returns.
  2. County-level flood-loss modeling may miss parcel-specific exposure, insurability and mitigation cost.
  3. MLS asking-price and concession indicators may not translate into closed-sale value, leaving exit pricing unverified without comparables.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

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

What share of purchases were investor purchases?

Investor purchases were 26 of 392 total purchases, a 6.63% share.

What does QCEW report about the county labor base?

For 2025, QCEW reports 11,520 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces. Manufacturing had 3,679 jobs and was the largest disclosed private supersector; this is not resident employment.