How to use the map
- Pick what to color the counties by: home values, rents, how fast either is changing, incomes, or how stretched renters are.
- Tap a county, or type its name in Find a county, to see all its numbers next to its state and the whole US, plus how its home values have moved since 2000.
- Zoom in to see towns and roads on top of the colors. Grey counties have no data for that number.
For amounts, each color covers about the same number of counties, so the map shows where a county sits compared with the rest. For changes, grey means about flat, red means up and blue means down.
Questions
Why are there two home values and two rents? Zillow’s numbers come from sales and listings and are updated every month, but Zillow doesn’t cover every county, and covers only about 1,400 for rent. The Census numbers come from a survey of households, cover every county, and average five years, so they lag behind. Census rent also includes older leases, so it’s usually lower than what new renters are asked to pay.
Can I see homes for sale or for rent? No. Listings come from local agents’ databases, which aren’t open to the public, so no free map can show them all. This map shows what homes typically cost in each area instead.
What does “value ÷ income” mean? The median home value divided by the median household income. A 3 means a typical home costs three years of a typical household’s income. Under 3 is usually called affordable, and over 5 is stretched.
What does “renters paying 30%+” mean? The share of renting households that spend at least 30% of their income on rent and utilities, a common line for being “rent-burdened”.
How often is it updated? Zillow publishes new numbers every month and the Census once a year. The month and years each number is from are under the map.
Where does the data come from? Zillow Research (the Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index) and the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. County outlines are from the Census Bureau, and the background map is from OpenFreeMap, built on OpenStreetMap.
Is anything saved? Only which number you picked to color by, in this browser.