Counties / South Dakota / Sully County

Sully County, SD

FIPS 46119 · population 1,526 · outside every metro area

$286k
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
$286k
▼ 1.8% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$842
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
$948
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 ZHVI2026-06−1.8%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$205k
Surveyed gross rent$842
Rent burden 30%+33.0%
Median year built1979
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
31.8%vacant
934estimated housing units
Occupied tenure27.2% renter
owner 72.8%renter 27.2%
Structure mix76.0% single-family
Single-family 76.0%20+ units 2.9%Mobile home 16.0%Other 5.1%
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 jobs692▲ 1.9% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments97annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,085▲ 1.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorNatural resources and mining32.4% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.9%WEEKLY WAGE+1.6%Natural resources and mining32.4%
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

Sully County is a valuation-and-verification case, not a demonstrated income case: investors able to obtain property-level rent and flood evidence should investigate, while those relying on county averages should be cautious. The supplied Zillow county median home value is $286,338, down 1.76% year over year. That decline is a home-value observation, not a closed-sale comp or a rent signal, and the record offers no FHFA repeat-transaction HPI to corroborate or challenge its direction.

02Housing economics

Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed from the home value. HUD's two-bedroom FMR of $948 per month is a payment standard, not an estimate of market rent and cannot substitute in the yield calculation. The effective property-tax rate is 0.84%, with median annual tax of $1,715. Inland flood is the dominant hazard; the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.18% of building value per year, which identifies modeled exposure but not a property's insurance premium, deductible, elevation, or realized loss.

03Demand & competition

Workplace evidence is modest but concentrated: QCEW reports 692 annual average covered jobs, up 1.91%, and natural resources and mining accounts for 32.42% of total private covered employment as the largest disclosed supersector. This is county workplace employment, not resident employment or a forecast; tenant and employer concentration need address-level review. Net migration was 7 tax-return households, yet incoming movers' average AGI was $13,656 below that of outgoing movers, so a positive count does not establish stronger renter income. The record shows 16 purchases and a 12.5% investor share, a buyer-mix indicator rather than proof of rental absorption or broad demand.

04Risk & next checks

Limits are material: Realtor.com MLS listing price, active listings, days on market, and price-reduced share are not published, preventing a read on visible supply, asking-price pressure, marketing time, or seller concessions. Only 6 of 8 evidence groups are available. Next checks are current market-rent comps and lease terms; parcel flood zone, insurance quotes, and claims history; tax assessment; transaction comps; and the local employer base. Those items determine whether the county-level caution can be converted into property underwriting.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Sully 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
Onida city644Agar town81Cow Creek CDP69
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
    Onida cityIncorporated place
    644
  2. 02
    Agar townIncorporated place
    81
  3. 03
    Cow Creek CDPCensus-designated place
    69

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

0.181% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.83%

$1,715 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+7

32 in · 25 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$13,656

$104,344 arriving · $118,000 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors12.5%

2 of 16 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 market rent may not support carrying costs once taxes, insurance, and flood exposure are verified.
  2. A concentrated workplace base may limit tenant depth or buyer liquidity at the property level.
  3. Missing MLS supply and pricing data may conceal weaker or stronger seller conditions than the county record indicates.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

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

What does the supplied price evidence show?

The supplied Zillow county median home value is $286,338 and is down 1.76% year over year; no FHFA annual HPI observation is supplied for a repeat-transaction cross-check.

What visible listing-market evidence is available?

No Realtor.com MLS listing price, active-listing, days-on-market, or price-reduction figures are published, so visible supply and seller-concession conditions cannot be assessed.