Counties / Virginia / Prince Edward County

Prince Edward County, VA

FIPS 51147 · population 21,996 · outside every metro area

$241k
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
$241k
▲ 7.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,358
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
6.8%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,094
market rent is 1.24x the 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+41.7%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+7.5%FHFA HPI2025+2.8%
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$217k
Surveyed gross rent$931
Rent burden 30%+52.8%
Median year built1980
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
17.0%vacant
9,209estimated housing units
Occupied tenure42.0% renter
owner 58.0%renter 42.0%
Structure mix69.7% single-family
Single-family 69.7%20+ units 1.6%Mobile home 13.8%Other 14.9%
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 jobs8,702▼ 0.4% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments715annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$980▲ 4.5% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services33.3% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.4%WEEKLY WAGE+4.5%Education and health services33.3%
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

Prince Edward County presents a price-versus-cash-flow underwriting tension: Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value was $241,495, up 7.53%, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI increased 2.75%. Buyers pursuing the reported yield should investigate whether current stock supports the faster Zillow direction; value-focused underwriters should be cautious about treating the two series as a single appreciation measure. FHFA is an index, not a home value, and their dates and methods differ.

02Housing economics

The record publishes a $1,358 monthly median asking rent and a 6.75% gross yield, calculated before operating costs. HUD’s $1,094 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not evidence of market asking rent or a substitute yield input. The 0.43% effective property-tax rate and $921 median annual tax add a known carrying-cost reference, but insurance, utilities, repairs, vacancy and financing costs are not published; NOI, cap rate and debt coverage cannot be underwritten.

03Demand & competition

MLS listing-market evidence in 2026-06 is mixed: active listings rose 10.48% to 69, median marketing time was 59 days, and 15.60% of listings had price reductions. These are visible supply, marketing time and seller concessions, respectively—not closed prices or standalone proof of buyer demand. Net migration was positive and in-movers reported higher average income than out-movers, while non-occupant purchase mortgages represented 7.87% of 178 purchases. That combination warrants reviewing who is buying and whether rents are tenant-supported rather than assuming investor competition is dominant. QCEW reports annual workplace-based covered employment, not resident labor conditions; it declined, while average wage rose and Education and health services was the largest disclosed private supersector.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual building-value loss is 0.09%; this is a modeled ratio rather than a property-specific insurance bill. County averages cannot identify parcel elevation, flood-zone status, mitigation, insurer terms, tenant depth or neighborhood resale liquidity. Next checks are property-level flood and insurance records, rent comps and leases, operating statements, tax bills, closed-sale comps, and the mix of pending versus withdrawn listings. Those absences prevent a defensible asset-level cash-flow and exit assessment.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Prince Edward 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
Farmville town*7.8KHampden-Sydney CDP1.8KPamplin City town*275
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

3 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Farmville townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    7,774
  2. 02
    Hampden-Sydney CDPCensus-designated place
    1,769
  3. 03
    Pamplin City townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    275

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

0.093% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.43%

$921 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+79

623 in · 544 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$2,144

$47,313 arriving · $45,169 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors7.9%

14 of 178 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 listings69▲ 10.5% year over year
Median days on market59▼ 12.4% year over year
Listings price-reduced15.6%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 1.1% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Operating costs, vacancy and financing are unpublished, so the reported gross yield may not translate into adequate net cash flow.
  2. Parcel flood exposure and insurance terms may be materially worse than the county modeled risk.
  3. Listing supply and price reductions may not convert to supported rents or resale values.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is the published rent a market measure or an HUD payment standard?

It is a median monthly asking-rent measure; HUD Fair Market Rent is separately supplied as a payment standard.

Do the listing figures show completed sale prices?

No. They are MLS active-listing evidence and do not establish closed-sale pricing or buyer demand by themselves.

What labor-market measure is supplied?

QCEW annual covered workplace employment and wage data are supplied; they do not measure resident employment or unemployment.