FY2026 Fair Market Rents for Tyrrell County, NC
Every year, HUD publishes Fair Market Rent (FMR) figures for every county in the country — the basis for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment standards, and one of the only sourced, government-published rent benchmarks that exists for a market this thin. Tyrrell is North Carolina's least populous county and is designated non-metropolitan for FMR purposes. Here are the current, final figures, straight from HUD's own FMR Documentation System:
| Unit Size | FY2026 FMR | FY2025 FMR |
|---|---|---|
| Efficiency (0BR) | $739 | $744 |
| One-Bedroom | $744 | $749 |
| Two-Bedroom | $925 | $930 |
| Three-Bedroom | $1,286 | $1,303 |
| Four-Bedroom | $1,390 | $1,398 |
For a typical single-family rental — three or four bedrooms — that's a FY2026 FMR of $1,286 or $1,390 a month. FMRs for units larger than four bedrooms are calculated by adding 15% to the four-bedroom figure per extra bedroom; FMRs for single-room-occupancy units are 0.75× the efficiency FMR.
This is a policy figure, not a market-rent survey
FMR exists to set voucher payment standards, not to tell an investor what a house will actually rent for. It's a real, sourced number — useful as one reference point — but it is not a substitute for current local rent comps or a licensed appraiser's market-rent survey before you underwrite a purchase. Comps themselves are thin here — this is NC's least populous county.
A genuinely local number, with one statutory exception
Unlike some of this brokerage's thinnest counties, Tyrrell County's own American Community Survey rent data was reliable enough for HUD to calculate most bedroom sizes directly from local data — a real reflection of Tyrrell rents, not a regional fallback. The one exception is the 2-bedroom figure: Tyrrell's own preliminary calculation came in at $751, below North Carolina's statewide minimum FMR of $925, so the state floor applies there specifically. Worth knowing before you treat every number in that table as equally locally-sourced — four of the five are; one is a statutory backstop.
Who's actually renting in Tyrrell County
This county's own buyer's brief identifies three archetypes who buy here: the Dare County commuter priced out of Manteo and Nags Head, the hunting and recreational land investor, and the homestead/self-sufficiency buyer. The first of those is also a real rental demand profile, not just a buyer one. US-64 puts Columbia roughly 42 minutes from Manteo — see Chapter 1, The Dare Arbitrage — and Dare County's tighter, pricier housing stock means some of that commuter demand shows up as renters here rather than buyers, at least initially. That's a genuine, county-specific tenant pool worth factoring into your vacancy assumptions, alongside the county's own small resident population.
If lease income comes with the property
Tyrrell is a land-first county — hunting and recreational acreage is one of its core products, and Chapter 4, Hunting & Recreational Land, covers leases, timber, and present-use-value taxation in detail. If a property you're considering comes with an existing hunt lease or timber arrangement, treat that income the way you'd treat any small-business revenue you're inheriting: get the actual lease documents and payment history, not a seller's verbal description, before you count on it as part of your return.
The cost lines that actually move Tyrrell's numbers
Tyrrell is one of North Carolina's coastal wind-pool counties, eligible for coverage through the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association — the "Beach Plan" — the residual wind/hail market the state created because the voluntary market doesn't fully serve high-risk coastal counties on its own. Combined with NFIP flood exposure relevant to low-lying and waterfront parcels (see Chapter 3, Land, Pocosin & Water Tables), a meaningful share of Tyrrell County property carries a real insurance cost worth quoting before you buy, not after. Get actual quotes on the specific property, and factor a genuinely thin tenant pool — this is a county of 3,245 people — into your vacancy assumptions rather than assuming metro-level absorption.
Financing an investment property here also runs differently than financing a primary residence — the USDA, FHA, and NCHFA programs covered on this site's other financing pages are primary-residence programs and generally don't apply to a straight rental purchase. Investment-property purchases typically run through conventional non-owner-occupant financing or investor-focused products such as debt-service-coverage-ratio loans, with different underwriting and larger down payments than an owner-occupant mortgage. See the full financing page for how USDA, land loans, and construction-to-perm work for owner-occupants, as the point of contrast.
Frequently asked questions
What is HUD Fair Market Rent, exactly?
Fair Market Rent (FMR) is a figure HUD publishes annually for every county and metro area in the country, primarily to set payment standards for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. HUD calculates it from Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) rent data, adjusted for inflation and trended forward to the fiscal year. It is a federal policy benchmark, not an appraisal, a rent-roll survey, or a promise of what any specific unit will actually rent for.
Does a landlord have to accept Section 8 vouchers in Tyrrell County?
Whether a landlord must accept vouchers depends on state and local source-of-income discrimination law, which changes over time and by jurisdiction — this page does not state a current legal requirement for Tyrrell County specifically. Confirm the current rule with a NC real estate attorney before assuming either way.
Why is the 2-bedroom figure $925 when the other sizes are locally calculated?
Because $925 is North Carolina's statewide minimum FMR, and Tyrrell County's own preliminary 2-bedroom calculation ($751) came in below it — so HUD raised that one bedroom size to the state floor. The efficiency, 1BR, 3BR, and 4BR figures reflect Tyrrell County's own American Community Survey rent data directly, which met HUD's reliability threshold on its own. It's a genuine, if slightly uneven, mix of locally-grounded and statutory figures within the same table.
Can I rent to someone who works in Dare County?
Yes, and it's one of the more specific rental demand profiles this county actually has. US-64 puts Columbia roughly 42 minutes from Manteo, and Dare County's housing costs and inventory are tighter than Tyrrell's — see Chapter 1, The Dare Arbitrage, for the commute math from a buyer's perspective. The same math works for a renter commuting to a Dare County paycheck who can't find or afford housing there.
Is the FMR the rent I should expect to charge?
Not automatically. FMR is a floor-setting policy figure, not a live market survey of what Tyrrell County renters are actually paying. Treat it as one documented, sourced reference point and verify actual achievable market rent with current local comps before underwriting a purchase — inventory here is thin enough that comps themselves may be limited.
Which public housing agency administers vouchers in Tyrrell County?
This page does not name a specific local public housing agency for Tyrrell County — confirm the current administering agency using HUD's own Public Housing Agency contact directory at hud.gov before relying on voucher-tenant assumptions for a specific property.
Evaluating a Specific Rental Property?
Travis can walk an actual address against this data — FMR by bedroom count, the Dare-commuter rental angle, and what financing is realistically available for an investment purchase in Tyrrell County.
Data note: FMR figures are sourced directly from HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rent Documentation System for Tyrrell County, NC (huduser.gov), current as of this page's publication date. FMR is a federal policy benchmark for the Housing Choice Voucher program, not a market-rent appraisal, and does not guarantee achievable rent for any specific property. This page is not financial, tax, or investment advice — verify current figures at huduser.gov, and confirm market rent, financing terms, and insurance costs for any specific property with the relevant licensed professionals before making an investment decision.