Counties / Iowa / Chickasaw County

Chickasaw County, IA

FIPS 19037 · population 11,807 · outside every metro area

$221k
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
$221k
▲ 6.3% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$738
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
$919
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.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+44.7%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+6.3%FHFA HPI2025+3.5%
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$183k
Surveyed gross rent$738
Rent burden 30%+29.6%
Median year built1966
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
9.8%vacant
5,542estimated housing units
Occupied tenure19.1% renter
owner 80.9%renter 19.1%
Structure mix86.8% single-family
Single-family 86.8%20+ units 1.8%Mobile home 2.6%Other 8.9%
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 jobs5,150▲ 0.7% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments411annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,135▲ 6.5% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing32.4% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.7%WEEKLY WAGE+6.5%Manufacturing32.4%
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

Chickasaw County presents a price-strength-versus-income-coverage tension: buyers able to verify leases and flood conditions should investigate, while those needing demonstrated yield should be cautious. Zillow’s 2026-06 county median home value was $221,123, up 6.32% year over year. Separately, FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 3.46% annually and 44.74% cumulatively over five years. The index supports Zillow’s direction but is not a home value and must not be combined with Zillow into one growth rate.

02Housing economics

No county market asking rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than an estimate of asking rent and cannot fill that gap. The 1.02% effective property-tax rate is a recurring carrying-cost input against the Zillow value, but neither rent coverage nor a parcel-specific tax bill is available. Underwriting needs lease comparables, vacancy, operating costs, insurance, and parcel taxes before price appreciation can be tested against cash flow.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS listing market showed 30 active listings, inventory 22.45% higher year over year, a 60-day median marketing time, and 11.76% of listings reduced. Those are visible-supply, marketing-time, and seller-concession indicators—not closed-sale prices or standalone proof of buyer demand. Tax-return movers produced net migration of -33 households, although inbound movers’ average AGI exceeded outbound movers’ by $8,052. Investor participation was 9 of 112 purchases; this is a limited observed buyer segment, not evidence of its motivation or pricing power.

04Risk & next checks

Risk is material: inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.16% of building value, not a property-specific loss estimate. QCEW reports annual covered jobs located at county workplaces, and covered-worker wages increased from the prior annual average; Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector, not a description of the entire economy. Key evidence not published here includes flood-zone and insurance quotes, building condition, sale and rent comparables, and transaction financing; without it, neither durable demand nor property-level return can be underwritten.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Chickasaw 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
New Hampton city3.5KNashua city*1.6KFredericksburg city989Lawler city363Ionia city336Protivin city*312Alta Vista city194North Washington city134
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

9 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    New Hampton cityIncorporated place
    3,453
  2. 02
    Nashua cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    1,622
  3. 03
    Fredericksburg cityIncorporated place
    989
  4. 04
    Lawler cityIncorporated place
    363
  5. 05
    Ionia cityIncorporated place
    336
  6. 06
    Protivin cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    312
  7. 07
    Alta Vista cityIncorporated place
    194
  8. 08
    North Washington cityIncorporated place
    134
  9. 09
    Bassett cityIncorporated place
    50

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

0.159% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.02%

$1,863 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-33

221 in · 254 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$8,052

$54,036 arriving · $45,984 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors8.0%

9 of 112 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings30▲ 22.4% year over year
Median days on market60▼ 8.7% year over year
Listings price-reduced11.8%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 12.5% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

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. Market rent, vacancy, and operating-cost evidence are not published, so cash-flow coverage cannot be tested.
  2. Parcel-level inland-flood exposure and insurance costs may differ materially from the county modeled loss ratio.
  3. Net outmigration, manufacturing concentration, and listing concessions could limit rental or resale liquidity.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. County market asking rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent cannot be used as a market-rent substitute.

What is the primary climate screen for a property?

Inland flood is the stated dominant hazard; the published climate measure is county-level modeled loss rather than a parcel-specific estimate.

What does the available labor data measure?

QCEW measures annual covered employment at workplaces in the county, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast.