Counties / Kansas / Wilson County

Wilson County, KS

FIPS 20205 · population 8,505 · outside every metro area

$107k
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
$107k
▼ 3.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$736
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
$877
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 ZHVI2026-06−3.5%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$94k
Surveyed gross rent$736
Rent burden 30%+45.3%
Median year built1965
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
21.7%vacant
4,493estimated housing units
Occupied tenure22.3% renter
owner 77.7%renter 22.3%
Structure mix84.5% single-family
Single-family 84.5%20+ units 0.9%Mobile home 10.7%Other 4.0%
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 jobs2,896▼ 8.0% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments232annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$927▼ 0.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing37.8% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−8.0%WEEKLY WAGE−0.6%Manufacturing37.8%
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

Wilson County’s decision tension is a $106,935 median home value that was down 3.48% year over year in Zillow’s county observation, alongside weakening local covered employment. Investors able to verify durable tenant income and property-level flood costs should investigate; those dependent on appreciation, rapid resale, or unverified rent should be cautious. The available evidence supports screening, not a complete valuation conclusion.

02Housing economics

Housing economics cannot yet be underwritten to gross yield: market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. The reported HUD two-bedroom FMR is $877 per month, but it is a payment standard rather than an estimate of asking rent and cannot substitute for rent. The effective property-tax rate is 1.48%, with median annual tax of $1,387; these are carrying-cost evidence, not a complete expense load. Achieved rents, vacancy, insurance, and operating expenses are needed before comparing income with the Zillow value.

03Demand & competition

The 2025 QCEW annual average reports 2,896 covered jobs at county workplaces, down 8.03% from the prior annual average. Manufacturing, the largest disclosed private supersector, accounted for 730 covered jobs, or 37.77% of private covered employment; this is not a description of the entire county economy. Migration showed a net outflow of 57 tax-return households, although movers in reported average AGI $879 higher than movers out. Investor mortgages represented 16.67% of 66 reported purchases, indicating some non-occupant competition but not the terms or performance of those purchases.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.20% of building value; it is not a claim history or a parcel-specific insurance quote. No FHFA annual HPI observation is published, so a repeat-transaction index cannot corroborate or challenge Zillow’s direction. Nor are Realtor.com median listing price, active listings, days on market, or price-reduced share published, preventing a read on MLS asking prices, visible supply, marketing time, and seller concessions. Next checks are parcel flood exposure and insurance, achieved rents and vacancy, operating expenses, and major-employer or lease-level demand.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Wilson 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
Neodesha city2.5KFredonia city1.9KAltoona city467Buffalo city282New Albany city88Lafontaine CDP78Coyville city62Benedict city61
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

8 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Neodesha cityIncorporated place
    2,503
  2. 02
    Fredonia cityIncorporated place
    1,945
  3. 03
    Altoona cityIncorporated place
    467
  4. 04
    Buffalo cityIncorporated place
    282
  5. 05
    New Albany cityIncorporated place
    88
  6. 06
    Lafontaine CDPCensus-designated place
    78
  7. 07
    Coyville cityIncorporated place
    62
  8. 08
    Benedict cityIncorporated place
    61

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

0.198% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.48%

$1,387 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-57

183 in · 240 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$879

$44,279 arriving · $43,400 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors16.7%

11 of 66 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. Tenant demand may be weaker than county migration and workplace data can resolve.
  2. Flood insurance, condition, or tax expenses may exceed a preliminary carrying-cost model.
  3. Unpublished market rent and MLS conditions may overturn property-level underwriting.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be used as market rent.

What is the county’s dominant hazard?

Inland flood.

Can FHFA repeat-transaction data confirm Zillow’s price direction?

No. An FHFA annual HPI observation is not published in the record.