Boone, NC

Boone’s decision record begins with a current rental/value relationship, not a momentum call. Zillow does not publish enough history to calculate the trailing-12-month rent change, so the market is intentionally unranked and this report assigns neither a score nor a rank. For a renter, landlord, or small investor, the practical issue is which measurements need reconciliation before a decision: current asking-rent and value levels, income and Fair Market Rent reference points, labor and sale-market conditions, migration and financed investor purchases, and area-level hazard exposure. The population is 55,123, but the evidence is market-level and cannot describe a household, a specific property, or a neighborhood.

At June 30, 2026, Zillow’s asking-rent index is $2,175 and its home-value index is $516,984. The home-value figure has a supplied year-over-year change of 0.0009. Zillow also reports a gross-yield ratio of 0.0505 alongside those figures, establishing a current rent-to-value relationship within Zillow’s asking-rent and home-value indexes. However, Zillow has no trailing-12-month rent change for Boone. The current asking-rent level therefore cannot establish whether rents have risen, fallen, or held steady over that interval, and the reported home-value change is not a substitute for missing rent history. The Zillow evidence is useful for a current pricing relationship, not a rent-growth finding.

Census ACS reports median household income of $51,693, while the supplied rent-to-income measure is 0.5048 and price-to-income is 10.0. HUD’s FY2026 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is $1,177. Against that HUD reference, Zillow’s $2,175 asking-rent index is $998 higher and 1.848 times the two-bedroom FMR. This is an affordability boundary rather than a finding that identical homes, leases, or households are being measured. Census ACS is an income source, HUD sets a Fair Market Rent benchmark, and Zillow tracks asking-rent and home-value indexes. Their different constructions leave open questions about the rental types represented by Zillow, the household-income distribution behind the Census median, and the unit definition behind HUD’s two-bedroom benchmark. The gap warrants investigation, but it does not itself measure a tenant’s payment burden.

Labor and supply measures offer a tension rather than a single direction. BLS LAUS reports a year-over-year metro labor change of -0.0054 over the 12 months through May 2026. The Census Building Permits Survey records 346 permits in 2026 year to date through M06, or 6.28 permits per 1,000 residents; permits are authorizations, not completed or occupied housing. Redfin’s May 1, 2026 for-sale measures show 7.7 months of supply, up 0.6 from 7.1; a median 62 days on market, up 2 from 60; and a 0.964 sale-to-list ratio. The share of listings with price drops was 0.1635, below 0.1839 previously, a 0.0204 difference. These Redfin observations describe the resale listing market, while permits describe possible new supply and BLS describes labor conditions. Their periods and scopes differ from Zillow’s June index readings, so neither a permit count nor a job change establishes the reason for inventory, market-time, price-reduction, or asking-rent readings.

IRS county-to-county tax-return migration data aggregated to Boone show 1,678 movers in and 1,911 movers out, for net migration of -233. Yet adjusted gross income reported for incoming returns is $75,813, versus $57,298 for outgoing returns; the supplied gap is $18,515. This pairs a negative net flow with higher income on incoming returns, without showing why people moved or how they use housing. HMDA provides a separate financed-purchase view: in 2024, 552 purchase mortgages are recorded, including 107 investor purchases, for an investor share of 0.1938. HMDA is purchase-mortgage occupancy evidence, not a census of all buyers, all rental units, cash transactions, or investor ownership. Consequently, the IRS flow and HMDA share sharpen questions about demand and investor participation, but they do not identify any participant’s motive or prove that a migration pattern produced a purchase outcome.

FEMA’s National Risk Index places Boone’s risk score at 71.9 and gives a climate loss ratio of 0.001317; the top identified hazard is inland flood, categorized as water. FEMA supplies expected annual loss evidence at the area level. It does not state that every address faces the same exposure, nor does the packet provide an insurance premium, repair cost, tax cost, or property-specific loss estimate. The available market-level cost context is instead Zillow’s $2,175 asking-rent and $516,984 home-value indexes, Census income, and HUD’s $1,177 two-bedroom FMR. Those levels cannot show whether hazard exposure is reflected in housing costs or who bears it. The record therefore separates measured area risk from unmeasured insurance and property-cost evidence, an important boundary when reviewing flood-related considerations.

Taken together, the evidence supports a disciplined unresolved decision frame, not a directional market verdict. Zillow provides current rent and value levels but no trailing-12-month rent change; accordingly, Boone remains unranked, and this report does not assign a score or rank. Census and HUD expose a wide difference between the supplied income/rent measures and the FMR benchmark, but their definitions require comparability checks. BLS, Census Building Permits, and Redfin provide labor, authorized-construction, and resale-listing evidence that should remain distinct. IRS and HMDA distinguish tax-return migration from financed purchase-occupancy evidence, while FEMA identifies area-level inland-flood risk without cost details. Decision-critical investigation can focus on Zillow index composition and geography; rental types behind the Zillow–HUD difference; Census permits units and completion status; Redfin inventory definitions; IRS migration coverage and timing; HMDA investor coding and cash-purchase omission; and area-specific flood and insurance documentation. No supplied measure resolves those questions, and none identifies a neighborhood or property.