Counties / Michigan / Washtenaw County

Washtenaw County, MI

FIPS 26161 · population 369,822 · part of Ann Arbor, MI

$426k
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
$426k
▲ 2.4% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$2,045
▲ 1.8% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
5.8%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,656
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+44.2%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+2.4%FHFA HPI2025+4.2%
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$374k
Surveyed gross rent$1,463
Rent burden 30%+56.1%
Median year built1978
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
5.8%vacant
159,782estimated housing units
Occupied tenure38.4% renter
owner 61.6%renter 38.4%
Structure mix64.3% single-family
Single-family 64.3%20+ units 8.8%Mobile home 3.7%Other 23.2%
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 jobs219,225▲ 0.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments10,008annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,476▲ 3.3% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services24.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.6%WEEKLY WAGE+3.3%Education and health services24.1%
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

Washtenaw presents a valuation-versus-income tension: the $426,230 median home value sits against $2,045 in monthly median asking rent and a supplied 5.76% gross yield. Buyers seeking current income should investigate unit-level costs before treating that yield as cash flow; buyers relying on appreciation should be cautious because the record does not establish exit pricing or net operating income.

02Housing economics

In Zillow’s county series, value growth was 2.43% year over year and asking-rent growth was 1.80%, while FHFA’s annual repeat-transaction HPI registered 4.21% growth. FHFA is an index rather than a home value; its method can corroborate direction but cannot be averaged with Zillow’s different observation. HUD’s $1,656 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market rent. The 1.52% effective tax rate and $5,678 median annual tax make carrying costs material against a pre-cost gross yield, although neither figure prices a specific parcel.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS listing market combines active-listing growth of 10.57% with an 8.62% drop in median asking price, 36 median days on market, and a 13.93% price-reduced share. This is visible supply, seller pricing, marketing time and concessions—not closed-sale pricing or buyer demand on its own. Tax-return migration was negative 1,993 households, yet average income of movers in exceeded movers out by $6,903; that mix does not establish renter or buyer depth. Investor purchase mortgages were 7.28% of purchases, showing participation rather than the investor-owned stock. QCEW identifies Education and health services as the largest disclosed private supersector, but it measures annual covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment or unemployment.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.08% of building value; it should be tested with parcel flood exposure, insurance terms and deductible data rather than converted into a property loss estimate. Missing vacancy, turnover, operating expenses, insurance quotes, debt terms, unit-level assessments and closed-sale comparables prevent net-yield, debt-service and resale underwriting. Next checks should also verify lease rents, condition and the tax bill for the target asset.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Washtenaw 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
Ann Arbor city122KYpsilanti city19.9KSaline city9KWhitmore Lake CDP*7.9KMilan city*6KChelsea city5.4KDexter city4.5KManchester village2.5K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

9 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Ann Arbor cityIncorporated place
    122,036
  2. 02
    Ypsilanti cityIncorporated place
    19,857
  3. 03
    Saline cityIncorporated place
    9,006
  4. 04
    Whitmore Lake CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    7,878
  5. 05
    Milan cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    5,987
  6. 06
    Chelsea cityIncorporated place
    5,426
  7. 07
    Dexter cityIncorporated place
    4,521
  8. 08
    Manchester villageIncorporated place
    2,522
  9. 09
    Barton Hills villageIncorporated place
    430

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

0.084% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.52%

$5,678 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-1,993

11,341 in · 13,334 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$6,903

$85,116 arriving · $78,213 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors7.3%

239 of 3,281 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 listings733▲ 10.6% year over year
Median days on market36▼ 5.3% year over year
Listings price-reduced13.9%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 8.6% 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. Parcel-specific flood exposure, insurance availability and deductibles could materially alter carrying costs.
  2. Vacancy, maintenance, management and financing costs are not published, so gross yield may not translate into viable net income.
  3. Listing-market measures and migration data may not reflect demand for the target property type or location.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is the stated gross yield a net cash-flow measure?

No. It is annual market rent before property taxes and other operating costs.

Can HUD Fair Market Rent be used as the county’s asking-rent estimate?

No. The record identifies it as a two-bedroom payment standard, not market rent.

Do the Realtor.com measures establish closed-sale pricing?

No. They are MLS listing-market measures covering asking prices, visible supply, marketing time and price reductions.