Counties / West Virginia / Tyler County

Tyler County, WV

FIPS 54095 · population 8,064 · outside every metro area

$118k
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
$118k
▲ 0.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$748
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
$869
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+0.9%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$121k
Surveyed gross rent$748
Rent burden 30%+47.4%
Median year built1968
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
19.8%vacant
4,110estimated housing units
Occupied tenure15.9% renter
owner 84.1%renter 15.9%
Structure mix82.4% single-family
Single-family 82.4%20+ units 0.5%Mobile home 12.5%Other 4.6%
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 jobs1,960▲ 2.4% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments171annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,194▲ 4.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing31.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+2.4%WEEKLY WAGE+4.7%Manufacturing31.5%
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

Tyler County presents a low-price, mixed-demand underwriting case. Zillow’s median home value was $117,852, up 0.94%, while tax-return data show net migration of -58. QCEW covered employment located in the county grew 2.4% annually, but it is workplace, not resident, employment. The tension is employment support against population-flow weakness. Investigate a specific property, but do not treat low price as proof of durable demand; metro context is not supplied.

02Housing economics

Price cannot be paired with a rent-based return. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR was $869 per month, but FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent. Carrying-cost evidence is limited to a 0.57% effective property-tax rate and $689 median annual tax; insurance, repairs, vacancy, management, and utilities are not supplied. Entry price therefore cannot yet be translated into operating margin.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS evidence shows a thin visible market: 10 active listings, median days on market of 95, and 8% with price reductions. Its median listing-price growth was 6.01%, but that is asking-price evidence, not a closed-sale result; the pending-to-active ratio of 126.32% is not proof of completed demand. Inbound mover AGI exceeded outbound AGI by $1,751, yet migration remained negative. Purchase-mortgage data show one investor purchase among 36 total purchases, indicating little observed investor competition, but the small count limits that inference.

04Risk & next checks

Risk diligence should start with inland flood, the dominant hazard. The modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.39% of building value expected lost per year; it is county-level modeling, not a property-specific flood-zone, damage, insurance, or insurability finding. The record also lacks market rent, FHFA annual HPI, closed-sale comps, vacancy, and property-level operating costs. Those gaps prevent a rent-to-price test, net-cash-flow conclusion, and confirmation of Zillow’s appreciation direction through FHFA’s repeat-transaction index. Next checks are flood and insurance review, rent and closed-sale comps, and full operating-cost diligence.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Tyler 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
Paden City city*2.4KSistersville city1.4KMiddlebourne town796Friendly town123
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

4 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Paden City cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    2,415
  2. 02
    Sistersville cityIncorporated place
    1,409
  3. 03
    Middlebourne townIncorporated place
    796
  4. 04
    Friendly townIncorporated place
    123

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

0.390% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.57%

$689 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-58

147 in · 205 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$1,751

$54,673 arriving · $52,922 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors2.8%

1 of 36 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 listings10▲ 5.6% year over year
Median days on market95▲ 23.9% year over year
Listings price-reduced8.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 6.0% 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. Market rent is unpublished, so the apparent price advantage may not translate to an acceptable gross or net yield.
  2. Thin MLS inventory and prolonged marketing time may not establish durable buyer or tenant demand.
  3. Inland-flood exposure, insurance, or property condition could make carrying costs higher than county medians.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross rental yield be calculated?

No. Market rent is not published; the $869 HUD two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market rent.

How much investor participation is shown?

One investor purchase appears among 36 total purchases, indicating a 2.78% investor share.

What does the climate measure establish?

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.39% of building value per year. It is not a property-specific flood or insurance finding.