Counties / Iowa / Monroe County

Monroe County, IA

FIPS 19135 · population 7,513 · outside every metro area

$177k
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
$177k
▲ 3.4% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$798
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+31.0%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.4%FHFA HPI2025+10.3%
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$156k
Surveyed gross rent$798
Rent burden 30%+54.4%
Median year built1970
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
15.5%vacant
3,656estimated housing units
Occupied tenure18.7% renter
owner 81.3%renter 18.7%
Structure mix81.0% single-family
Single-family 81.0%20+ units 1.0%Mobile home 9.1%Other 8.8%
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 jobs3,570▼ 4.0% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments247annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,366▲ 6.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing42.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−4.0%WEEKLY WAGE+6.6%Manufacturing42.1%
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

Monroe County presents a price-momentum-versus-income-certainty tension. Zillow’s 2026-06 county median home value was $177,345, up 3.36%. Separately, FHFA’s annual 2025 repeat-transaction HPI increased 10.35% year over year and 30.96% over five years. The measures support a positive directional reading, but they cannot be blended: Zillow is a home-value estimate, while FHFA is an index and the supplied periods differ. Investors who require current cash-flow proof or durable local demand should be cautious; investigators need property-level confirmation.

02Housing economics

Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $919 per month is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. The 1.38% effective property-tax rate and $2,149 median annual tax identify a meaningful carrying-cost input, but do not produce an operating pro forma against the reported home value. Rent comps, vacancy, utilities, insurance and maintenance evidence are missing; without them, net cash flow and affordability cannot be underwritten.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS listing-market evidence shows 14 active listings, down 48.15%, a 44-day median marketing time, down 21.68%, and a 9.52% price-reduced share. This points to thinner visible supply and quicker marketing, with some seller concessions; it is neither closed-sale pricing nor proof of buyer demand on its own. QCEW annual covered employment at county workplaces fell 3.98%; its rising covered-worker wage does not turn it into resident employment or an unemployment measure. Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector. Tax-return migration had more departures than arrivals, although incoming movers had higher average income. Recorded investor participation was 2 of 42 purchases, or 4.76%, limiting observed nonowner buyer competition.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard and corresponds to a modeled annual climate loss ratio of 0.15% of building value, not a dollar loss or parcel-specific insurance quote. County evidence cannot identify a home’s flood zone, elevation, mitigation, claims history or policy terms. Next checks are parcel flood and insurance files, true market-rent and vacancy comps, property tax bills, condition-adjusted closed sales, and employer-specific exposure. Those omissions prevent conclusions on insurability, net yield, sale-price support and the durability of current listing conditions.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Monroe 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
Albia city3.7KEddyville city*1.2KMoravia city*624Lovilia city414Melrose city115
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

5 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Albia cityIncorporated place
    3,663
  2. 02
    Eddyville cityIncorporated place · spans 3 counties
    1,163
  3. 03
    Moravia cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    624
  4. 04
    Lovilia cityIncorporated place
    414
  5. 05
    Melrose cityIncorporated place
    115

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

0.147% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.38%

$2,149 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-40

123 in · 163 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$6,315

$58,033 arriving · $51,718 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.8%

2 of 42 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 listings14▼ 48.1% year over year
Median days on market44▼ 21.7% year over year
Listings price-reduced9.5%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 6.8% 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. Actual market rent, vacancy and operating expenses could fail to support income after property taxes.
  2. Parcel flood exposure and insurance costs could differ materially from the county modeled loss ratio.
  3. Thin listings and a small observed investor-purchase base may not represent sale pricing or buyer depth.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent cannot be substituted for market rent.

How much recorded purchase activity was investor participation?

Investor participation was 4.76% of recorded purchases, or 2 of 42 purchases.

What is the principal county-level hazard evidence?

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, with a modeled annual climate loss ratio of 0.15% of building value; this is not a parcel-specific loss or insurance estimate.