Counties / Iowa / Winneshiek County

Winneshiek County, IA

FIPS 19191 · population 19,873 · outside every metro area

$326k
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
$326k
▲ 6.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,015
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
3.7%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$919
market rent is 1.10x the 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+50.5%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+6.1%FHFA HPI2025+1.4%
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$259k
Surveyed gross rent$861
Rent burden 30%+36.5%
Median year built1962
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
9.9%vacant
9,029estimated housing units
Occupied tenure25.8% renter
owner 74.2%renter 25.8%
Structure mix83.9% single-family
Single-family 83.9%20+ units 2.2%Mobile home 1.7%Other 12.2%
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 jobs10,522▲ 0.4% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments761annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,032▲ 4.3% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities23.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.4%WEEKLY WAGE+4.3%Trade, transportation, and utilities23.2%
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

Winneshiek County poses a selective underwriting tension: the supplied Zillow county observation for 2026-06 puts median home value at $325,890 after 6.09% year-over-year growth, while $1,015 monthly median asking rent produces a 3.74% gross yield before operating costs. Cash-flow buyers should be cautious and test asset-level expenses. FHFA’s annual 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 1.36% year over year and 50.51% cumulatively over five years. It confirms positive direction, not a shared growth rate: it is neither a home value nor a comparable interval to Zillow.

02Housing economics

The market-rent measure is a monthly median asking rent and is above the separate HUD two-bedroom FMR. FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot replace market rent in yield work. The 1.12% effective property-tax rate and $2,894 median annual tax warrant carrying-cost review, though the county tax median cannot be assigned to Zillow’s median-value home. Insurance, repairs, vacancy, financing and property-level assessments are not published; net yield and cash flow therefore cannot be determined.

03Demand & competition

QCEW’s 2025 annual series measures covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment or a forecast. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector by employment, not the whole economy. Migration records show 26 more tax-return households leaving than arriving, yet incoming movers’ average AGI exceeded outgoing movers’ by $12,658. This requires segment-level tenant and buyer testing. Investors accounted for 14 of 65 purchase mortgages: potential buyer competition, but not proof of all-cash activity or total purchases.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual climate loss equals 0.15% of building value. This is an expected-loss ratio, not parcel flood probability or an insurance quote. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active listings, days on market and price-reduced share are not published; visible supply, concessions and marketing time cannot be assessed, and these would still be listing rather than closed-sale evidence. Check parcel flood zone and elevation, insurance terms, condition, tax bills, rent comps, vacancy and closed-sale comps. Their absence prevents a site-level entry-price, liquidity and net-income conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Winneshiek 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
Decorah city7.5KCalmar city974Ossian city806Spillville city356Fort Atkinson city346Ridgeway city315Burr Oak CDP225Castalia city142
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
    Decorah cityIncorporated place
    7,535
  2. 02
    Calmar cityIncorporated place
    974
  3. 03
    Ossian cityIncorporated place
    806
  4. 04
    Spillville cityIncorporated place
    356
  5. 05
    Fort Atkinson cityIncorporated place
    346
  6. 06
    Ridgeway cityIncorporated place
    315
  7. 07
    Burr Oak CDPCensus-designated place
    225
  8. 08
    Castalia cityIncorporated place
    142
  9. 09
    Jackson Junction cityIncorporated place
    26

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

0.152% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.12%

$2,894 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-26

381 in · 407 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$12,658

$65,260 arriving · $52,602 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors21.5%

14 of 65 mortgages

investorother financed
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Property-level expenses, vacancy and insurance costs may make the stated gross yield inadequate.
  2. Net outmigration may coincide with weaker durable local tenant or buyer depth than county averages suggest.
  3. Flood exposure and insurance availability can differ materially across parcels.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can HUD Fair Market Rent be used as the county’s asking rent?

No. HUD FMR is a payment standard; the record separately publishes a market median asking rent.

What does the record establish about investor competition?

It shows non-occupant participation in purchase mortgages, but does not establish all-cash investor activity or all housing purchases.

Can visible listing-market liquidity be assessed from this record?

No. Realtor.com active-listing, days-on-market, listing-price and price-reduction measures are not published.