Counties / Nebraska / Thurston County

Thurston County, NE

FIPS 31173 · population 6,627 · outside every metro area

$175k
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
$175k
▲ 8.7% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$699
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
$961
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+8.7%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$115k
Surveyed gross rent$699
Rent burden 30%+25.8%
Median year built1970
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
13.1%vacant
2,290estimated housing units
Occupied tenure39.0% renter
owner 61.0%renter 39.0%
Structure mix83.2% single-family
Single-family 83.2%20+ units 0.5%Mobile home 3.8%Other 12.5%
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 jobs3,330▼ 4.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments159annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,165▲ 5.3% 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+5.3%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

Thurston County poses a split underwriting question: observed home-value gain is positive, but the record does not establish whether local income, tenant payments, or resale depth support it. With 6,627 residents, sparse transactions can make county aggregates less informative for an individual asset. Income-focused buyers and buyers depending on prompt resale should investigate rather than treat appreciation as a stand-alone thesis. The record is county-level and does not characterize any metro.

02Housing economics

Zillow’s $174,923 median home value at 2026-06 was 8.70% above its prior-year observation. This is a value estimate, not a closed sale price; no FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI is supplied to independently test the direction. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be calculated. HUD’s $961 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. Carrying-cost review matters: the effective property-tax rate is 1.47%, while median annual property tax is $1,682; county metrics do not assign tax to a specific property.

03Demand & competition

QCEW’s annual county workplace record reports 3,330 covered jobs, down 4.06%, while the average covered-worker weekly wage was $1,165. This is workplace covered employment rather than resident employment or an unemployment measure. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector by employment, not a description of the whole economy. Tax-return migration was net negative 13 households, even as average income per inbound mover exceeded outbound movers by $11,077. Investors took four of 25 purchases, a calculated 16%; this signals non-occupant competition, but the small count limits inference. No Realtor.com MLS listing-market figures are supplied, so visible supply, marketing time, and seller concessions cannot be gauged and buyer demand is not proven.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual building-value loss ratio is 0.20%. This is an expected loss measure, not a property-specific insurance quote or a dollar loss. The next file should obtain property-level flood zone, elevation, insurance terms, tax bill, leases, and recent closed-sale comparables. A published market-rent figure is needed to test yield; FHFA HPI and MLS measures are needed to corroborate price direction and assess listing conditions. These gaps prevent a complete income, exit, and hazard-cost underwriting conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Thurston 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
Pender village1.4KWinnebago village1.1KEmerson village*885Walthill village812Macy CDP637Rosalie village247Thurston village100
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
    Pender villageIncorporated place
    1,379
  2. 02
    Winnebago villageIncorporated place
    1,058
  3. 03
    Emerson villageIncorporated place · spans 3 counties
    885
  4. 04
    Walthill villageIncorporated place
    812
  5. 05
    Macy CDPCensus-designated place
    637
  6. 06
    Rosalie villageIncorporated place
    247
  7. 07
    Thurston villageIncorporated place
    100

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

0.197% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.47%

$1,682 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-13

110 in · 123 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$11,077

$51,427 arriving · $40,350 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors16.0%

4 of 25 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. The Zillow value gain may not be achievable in a subject property's closed sale.
  2. Unpublished market rent may not cover property-specific operating and financing costs.
  3. Flood insurance requirements or physical exposure may exceed county-level modeled-loss assumptions.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is a county market-rent figure published?

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

What is the designated dominant hazard?

Inland flood.

Is FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI data provided?

No. The FHFA annual observation is not supplied.