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Markets / North Carolina / Elizabeth City
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Elizabeth City, NC
Elizabeth City merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can tolerate weak employment and hurricane wind exposure; buyers seeking strong labor-market support or low climate risk should avoid it.
Median price$275k
Median rent$1,597
Gross yield7.0%
Job growth▼ 1.7%
Composite Market ScoreRank #522 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Elizabeth City, NC?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,597 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 3.48% from a year earlier.
Occupied rental units paying rent
Two-bedroom standard
These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.
Exact county schedules
HUD rent benchmarks inside Elizabeth City
Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.
| County | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pasquotank County, NCFIPS 37139 | $921 | $927 | $1,216 | $1,640 | $1,899 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Elizabeth City merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can tolerate weak employment and hurricane wind exposure; buyers seeking strong labor-market support or low climate risk should avoid it. The median home value is $274,779, median asking rent is $1,597, and gross yield is 6.98%.
Rent growth of 3.48% exceeds price growth of 2.61%, an opportunity for current income. Net migration was positive by 122 households, but employment fell 1.67%, so incoming households do not remove demand risk. Rent consumes 28.79% of median income, limiting room for aggressive increases.
Buyers may have negotiating leverage: listings take 57 days and 16.1% record price drops. Yet supply is not plainly constrained, with 7.54 permits per thousand residents. Underwriting should test actual achievable rent, vacancy resilience, insurance terms, and wind-loss exposure before treating the headline yield as durable.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
Does the market offer enough gross income relative to the typical purchase price?
The record reports a 6.98% gross yield, based on a $1,597 median monthly asking rent and a $274,779 median home value. Gross yield excludes operating expenses, vacancy, financing, taxes, maintenance, management, and insurance, so the record does not establish a net return.
Are migration and employment pointing in the same direction?
No. Tax filings show 1,353 households moved in and 1,231 moved out, producing net migration of 122 households. Average income was $55,398 for incoming movers and $52,123 for outgoing movers, a published gap of $3,275. At the same time, LAUS employment declined 1.67% year over year, creating a mixed demand signal.
How much negotiating evidence is visible in the housing market?
The median listing spent 57 days on market, and 16.1% of listings had price drops. Inventory was 3.1 months. These figures indicate that some sellers adjusted expectations, but the record does not publish sale-to-list ratios, concessions, vacancy, neighborhood-level inventory, or property-specific comparable sales.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 7.0%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 3.48%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 4.9%
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Put the evidence to work
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Elizabeth City as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
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Market pulse
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Months of supply3.1 mo.▼ from 4.2 mo. a year ago
Median days on market57 days▲ from 22 days a year ago
Listings with price drops16.1%▼ from 20.3% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio99.1%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 2.6%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 3.48%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield7.0%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 1.7%LAUS · 12m to 2026-05
Release-to-release evidence
What actually changed
This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.
Published score held steady29→29
0 ptsThe published component scores did not move in this release.
Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.
The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.
Composite breakdown
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
29| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 13 | 30% | 3.90 |
| Rent trend | 53 | 25% | 13.25 |
| Affordability | 26 | 15% | 3.90 |
| Supply pressure | 29 | 15% | 4.35 |
| Climate risk | 26 | 15% | 3.90 |
| Published score | 29 | ||
Elizabeth City, NC scoreRank #522
29Job growth13/100
Employment fell 1.67% year over year -> tenant demand and rent collections lack support from current job growth, even though tax filings show 122 more households moving in than out.
Rent trend53/100
Median asking rent rose 3.48% to $1,597, versus a $1,216 fair-market rent for a two-bedroom unit -> the rent signal supports income potential, but buyers should verify that the target property's size and condition justify market asking levels.
Affordability26/100
A $274,779 median value equals 4.13 times median household income, while rent absorbs 28.79% of income -> purchase affordability is strained relative to local earnings, and tenants may have limited capacity for further increases.
Supply pressure29/100
There were 308 permits, equal to 7.54 per thousand residents, while for-sale inventory stood at 3.1 months -> new construction and available listings should be examined by submarket rather than assuming scarcity will protect occupancy or pricing.
Climate risk26/100
The hurricane wind loss ratio is 0.1881% of building value annually -> insurance pricing, deductibles, exclusions, and property-level mitigation can materially change the net return.
The numbers
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
ZHVI Median Price
$275k
YoY ▲ 2.6%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,597
YoY ▲ 3.48%
Gross Rental Yield
7.0%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,597 × 12 ÷ $274,779
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 1.7%
LAUS payrolls
Job signal 13/100
Median Household Income
$67k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
28.8%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
4.1x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,216
Market rent 131.4% of FMR
Historical affordability context
Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.
Independent rent evidence
One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks
These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.
Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale$1,597Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30
All homes and bedroom counts
A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.
View source release ↗$927−$670 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
One-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,216−$381 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
Two-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,170−$427 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year
Occupied rental units paying rent
A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.
View source release ↗Take the next step
Keep Elizabeth City as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Supply pipeline
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
National supply context
Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.
Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
308 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ recomputed from series
Who is arriving, and who is buying
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
Net Household Move
+122
1,353 in vs 1,231 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 9.0% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$3,275
Arriving $55,398 vs leaving $52,123
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
4.9%
34 of 697 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
hurricane
0.188% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: wind
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Chesapeake city · Virginia Beach city · Perquimans County · Camden County · Currituck County
✓ 1,353 in − 1,231 out = 122 netDirect market links
Where tax-return households moved from and to
These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.
Leading inbound markets
- Virginia Beach, VA461 arriving
- Kill Devil Hills, NC38 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Virginia Beach, VA265 leaving
- Raleigh, NC43 leaving
- Greenville, NC35 leaving
The other side
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- Employment contracted 1.67% year over year, which may weaken tenant demand, payment reliability, or turnover economics despite positive net migration.
- Rent already equals 28.79% of median household income, leaving less evidence-based room to raise rents without testing local tenant budgets and competing listings.
- Hurricane wind exposure carries a 0.1881% annual building-value loss ratio, and the record does not publish insurance premiums, deductibles, exclusions, or property-specific mitigation costs.
Inside this micro area
Move from the market-area average to local evidence
Use the available county and city pages to add local price, rent, housing, migration and hazard context to the market-area view.
County records
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Elizabeth City
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Market area | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth City, NC (Target) | 29 | $275k | $1,597 | 7.0% | ▼ 1.7% |
| Fort Leonard Wood, MO | 57 | $232k | $1,180 | 6.1% | ▼ 1.4% |
| Lake City, FL | 23 | $275k | $1,546 | 6.8% | ▼ 1.1% |
| Springfield, OH | 48 | $206k | $1,213 | 7.1% | ▼ 1.7% |
| Freeport, IL | 67 | $162k | $893 | 6.6% | ▼ 2.1% |
Provenance
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rent | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — historical household income | direct | ACS 2019 and 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| BEA County Personal Income — income and population | direct | 2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levels | direct | 2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wages | direct | May 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15) | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-08-02 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA | 2026-08-08 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 2025 | 2026-08-02 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income band | direct | HUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23) | 2026-08-03 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalk | direct | HUD-USPS 2026Q1 | 2026-08-09 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-30 | 2026-08-06 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-06 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rents | direct | top-50 rental asking rents 2026-05 | 2026-08-05 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply | direct | ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-12 |
| USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | direct | USDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | 2026-08-02 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusted | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv | 2026-08-15 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-08-08 |