All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Ames, IA
Ames merits selective investigation by buyers prioritizing affordability and limited near-term supply; income-focused investors or those requiring strong employment momentum should avoid it.
Median price$283k
Median rent$1,060
Gross yield4.5%
Job growth▼ 2.0%
Composite Market ScoreRank #313 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Ames, IA?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,060 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 2.68% from a year earlier.
Occupied rental units paying rent
Two-bedroom standard
These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.
Exact county schedules
HUD rent benchmarks inside Ames
Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.
| County | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Story County, IAFIPS 19169 | $972 | $1,026 | $1,153 | $1,601 | $1,934 |
| Boone County, IAFIPS 19015 | $783 | $788 | $1,026 | $1,427 | $1,500 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Ames merits selective investigation by buyers prioritizing affordability and limited near-term supply; income-focused investors or those requiring strong employment momentum should avoid it.
The median home value is $283,162, while median asking rent is $1,060 and gross yield is 4.49%. Rent uses 17.39% of median household income, indicating room in household budgets, but rent growth of 2.68% offers only modest income momentum.
Supply is tight at 1.9 months, yet 39.09% of listings have price drops. Jobs fell 1.98%, and net migration was -446 households. Buyers should treat constrained inventory as an acquisition challenge, not proof of stronger demand.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
What income does the current asking rent imply?
The median asking rent is $1,060 per month, producing a 4.49% gross yield on the median home value.
Is migration supporting housing demand?
No. Tax filings show 3,631 households moved in and 4,077 moved out, for net migration of -446.
What is the main property hazard?
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, with a climate loss ratio of 0.1214% of building value per year.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 4.5%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 2.68%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 9.2%
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Put the evidence to work
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Ames as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
Run cash flowStarts with this market's measured price and rentSave to shortlistCompare this metro with up to four other placesCheck rent by ZIPMove from metro context to a local rent benchmarkFind a comparison marketRead a curated two-market decision analysisShare this analysisEmail the canonical link without adding page scriptsReport a data issueSend the figure, source and release period to review
Market pulse
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Months of supply1.9 mo.unchanged from a year ago
Median days on market20 days▼ from 21 days a year ago
Listings with price drops39.1%▲ from 27.2% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio98.2%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 3.1%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 2.68%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield4.5%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 2.0%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence
What actually changed
This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.
Published score held steady47→47
0 ptsThe published component scores did not move in this release.
Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.
The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.
The one chart
Rents versus prices, indexed to 2019
Both series start at 100. The gap between the lines is the investment case, and which line is closing it tells you what kind of market this is.
Reindexed Price vs. Rent Growth
2019 = 100 · annual · 2019–2026
Since 2019, prices are up 38% and rents 28%. Prices running ahead of rents is what compresses yield. ✓ recomputed from series
Composite breakdown
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
47| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 3 | 30% | 0.90 |
| Rent trend | 39 | 25% | 9.75 |
| Affordability | 93 | 15% | 13.95 |
| Supply pressure | 82 | 15% | 12.30 |
| Climate risk | 67 | 15% | 10.05 |
| Published score | 47 | ||
Ames, IA scoreRank #313
47Job growth3/100
Job: CES employment fell 1.98% -> weaker employment momentum raises leasing-demand risk.
Rent trend39/100
Rent: asking rent rose 2.68% and gross yield is 4.49% -> income growth is positive but the starting yield is limited.
Affordability93/100
Afford: rent equals 17.39% of median household income and price-to-income is 3.87 -> local households face relatively manageable housing costs within this record.
Supply pressure82/100
Supply: inventory is 1.9 months and permits are 2.58 per 1,000 -> limited available and incoming supply may restrict acquisition choices.
Climate risk67/100
Climate: the dominant hazard is inland flood and the annual loss ratio is 0.1214% -> property-level water exposure and insurance terms require review.
The numbers
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
ZHVI Median Price
$283k
YoY ▲ 3.1%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,060
YoY ▲ 2.68%
Gross Rental Yield
4.5%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,060 × 12 ÷ $283,162
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 2.0%
CES payrolls
Job signal 3/100
Median Household Income
$73k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
17.4%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
3.9x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,090
Market rent 97.3% of FMR
Historical affordability context
Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.
Independent rent evidence
One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks
These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.
Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale$1,060Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30
All homes and bedroom counts
A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.
View source release ↗$907−$153 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
One-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,090+$30 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
Two-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,000−$60 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year
Occupied rental units paying rent
A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.
View source release ↗Take the next step
Keep Ames as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside Ames
BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.
BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Occupation wage lens
How asking rent sits against major local occupations
Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.
Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$30,020 median wage
42.4%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$46,490 median wage
27.4%
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations$61,790 median wage
20.6%
Sales and Related Occupations$34,950 median wage
36.4%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$45,050 median wage
28.2%
Management Occupations$105,110 median wage
12.1%
Supply pipeline
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
National supply context
Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.
Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
316 units authorised in 2026, 16% of them in 5+ unit buildings. A meaningful share is apartments, which discount first when they lease up. ✓ recomputed from series
Who is arriving, and who is buying
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
Net Household Move
−446
3,631 in vs 4,077 out (IRS SOI)
▼ 12.3% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$7,650
Arriving $50,894 vs leaving $58,544
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
9.2%
123 of 1,341 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.121% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Polk County · Dallas County · Marshall County · Hamilton County · Linn County
✓ 3,631 in − 4,077 out = -446 netDirect market links
Where tax-return households moved from and to
These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.
Leading inbound markets
- Des Moines, IA965 arriving
- Marshalltown, IA92 arriving
- Cedar Rapids, IA72 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Des Moines, IA1,258 leaving
- Minneapolis, MN77 leaving
- Cedar Rapids, IA72 leaving
The other side
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- Employment contraction could weaken tenant demand or rent collection.
- Household out-migration could reduce the pool of renters and buyers.
- Frequent listing price cuts could signal softer pricing than the low inventory figure suggests.
Inside this metro area
Move from the market-area average to local evidence
Use the available county and city pages to add local price, rent, housing, migration and hazard context to the market-area view.
County records
Cities in this market
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Ames
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Market area | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ames, IA (Target) | 47 | $283k | $1,060 | 4.5% | ▼ 2.0% |
| Dubuque, IA | 42 | $283k | $1,132 | 4.8% | ▼ 1.8% |
| Wausau, WI | 61 | $272k | $1,018 | 4.5% | ▼ 1.4% |
| Ashland, OH | 71 | $247k | $936 | 4.5% | ▼ 1.8% |
| Great Falls, MT | 42 | $345k | $1,365 | 4.7% | ▼ 2.5% |
Provenance
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rent | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — historical household income | direct | ACS 2019 and 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| BEA County Personal Income — income and population | direct | 2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levels | direct | 2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wages | direct | May 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15) | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-08-02 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA | 2026-08-08 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 2025 | 2026-08-02 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income band | direct | HUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23) | 2026-08-03 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalk | direct | HUD-USPS 2026Q1 | 2026-08-09 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-30 | 2026-08-06 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-06 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rents | direct | top-50 rental asking rents 2026-05 | 2026-08-05 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply | direct | ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-12 |
| USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | direct | USDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | 2026-08-02 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusted | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv | 2026-08-15 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-08-08 |