Counties / Missouri / Vernon County

Vernon County, MO

FIPS 29217 · population 19,687 · outside every metro area

$183k
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
$183k
▲ 7.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$734
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
$923
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+65.8%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+7.9%FHFA HPI2025+12.9%
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$159k
Surveyed gross rent$734
Rent burden 30%+34.5%
Median year built1976
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
13.2%vacant
8,928estimated housing units
Occupied tenure28.7% renter
owner 71.3%renter 28.7%
Structure mix79.0% single-family
Single-family 79.0%20+ units 0.8%Mobile home 9.8%Other 10.4%
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 jobs6,998▲ 6.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments749annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$923▲ 3.0% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services25.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+6.3%WEEKLY WAGE+3.0%Education and health services25.5%
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

Vernon County presents a price-growth-versus-marketing-friction tension: buyers able to validate parcel and rent economics should investigate, while rent-dependent or short-hold underwriting should be cautious. The supplied Zillow county median home value is $183,269, up 7.88%. In the separate Realtor.com MLS listing-market observation, active listings rose 31.25%, median marketing time reached 71 days, up 54.95%, and 18.38% of listings carried reductions. These are asking-market supply, time-to-market, and seller-concession signals, not closed sales or independent proof of buyer demand.

02Housing economics

Income underwriting is constrained because market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD's two-bedroom FMR of $923 per month is a payment standard and cannot substitute for asking rent. Carrying cost includes a 0.67% effective property-tax rate and $1,067 median annual tax, though assessment and parcel variation are not published. FHFA's repeat-transaction HPI showed a 12.88% annual change and 65.79% cumulative five-year change in its supplied annual observation. Its positive direction is consistent with Zillow's, but their methods and vintages differ; they are not one growth measure.

03Demand & competition

QCEW reports 6,998 annual-average covered jobs at county workplaces, 6.32% above the prior annual average; it is not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast. Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, at 25.54% of private covered employment. Tax-return migration shows a net inflow of 28 households, while incoming movers' average income exceeded outgoing movers' by $4,378; this is a small county-level mover signal, not a tenant-demand measure. Investor share was 11.23% of 187 purchases, but the record does not identify property types, bids, or rents.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss equal to 0.15% of building value annually aligns with the dominant inland-flood hazard, but it is a county-level model, not a parcel loss estimate or insurance quote. Next, verify flood zone, elevation, claims, coverage, deductible, premium, restoration exposure, and lease terms. Missing market-rent comps prevent yield and rent-to-price conclusions; missing closed-sale comps prevent acquisition-pricing conclusions; and absent property-level taxes and operating costs prevent a cash-flow conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Vernon 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
Nevada city7.9KSheldon city443Walker city359Schell City city224Bronaugh city163Moundville town98Richards town49Milo village47
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
    Nevada cityIncorporated place
    7,925
  2. 02
    Sheldon cityIncorporated place
    443
  3. 03
    Walker cityIncorporated place
    359
  4. 04
    Schell City cityIncorporated place
    224
  5. 05
    Bronaugh cityIncorporated place
    163
  6. 06
    Moundville townIncorporated place
    98
  7. 07
    Richards townIncorporated place
    49
  8. 08
    Milo villageIncorporated place
    47
  9. 09
    Deerfield villageIncorporated place
    43
  10. 10
    Metz townIncorporated place
    7
  11. 11
    Harwood villageIncorporated place
    6
  12. 12
    Stotesbury townIncorporated place
    0

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

0.154% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.67%

$1,067 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+28

426 in · 398 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$4,378

$44,594 arriving · $40,216 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors11.2%

21 of 187 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 listings63▲ 31.3% year over year
Median days on market71▲ 54.9% year over year
Listings price-reduced18.4%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 2.3% 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 could leave the apparent price basis unsupported by property income.
  2. Realtor.com listing conditions may not track closed-sale pricing or executable exit timing.
  3. Parcel flood exposure, insurance availability, and mitigation needs may depart materially from the county model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can this record support a gross-yield calculation?

No. Median asking market rent is not published, and HUD FMR is only a payment standard.

What does QCEW measure in this record?

Annual average covered employment at workplaces located in the county, not resident employment or unemployment.

Does Realtor.com establish a closed-sale value for the county?

No. Its figures describe the MLS listing market, including visible supply, marketing time, and seller price reductions.