Clinton, IA

Clinton, IA’s statistical area has a usable yet deliberately incomplete decision record. With population 46,268, the supplied evidence spans rent, value, income, labor, construction, listings, migration, mortgage purchases and climate risk, giving renters, landlords and small investors several market-level questions to reconcile. The central limitation is Zillow: its asking-rent and home-value indexes are current through 2026-06-30, but the 12-month rent change is unavailable. This report therefore assigns no score and no rank; the market is intentionally unranked, not classified as either improving or weakening on rent momentum. The appropriate frame is a present-tense comparison of levels and mixed signals, not a directional verdict. Each source has a distinct unit, timing and coverage, so apparent agreement should be tested before it is used in a lease, purchase or operating decision.

Zillow places the asking-rent index at $943 and the home-value index at $182,457 on 2026-06-30. The supplied year-over-year home-value rate is 0.0536; the supplied gross yield is 0.062. Together with the price-to-income ratio of 2.72, these are level measures of asking-rent/value economics rather than achieved rents, transaction-specific results or an observed rent-growth path. Gross yield cannot be treated as a net-return figure because operating-cost inputs are absent. Zillow rent is $13 below HUD’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $956, and the supplied rent-versus-FMR ratio is 0.986. That proximity is a useful benchmark check, not proof that the Zillow series and HUD benchmark describe the same unit mix, lease terms or payer circumstances. Because the Zillow rent series lacks a 12-month change, neither the current rent level nor its relationship to value establishes a recent rental trajectory.

Census ACS supplies the household-income boundary: median household income is $66,981, while the supplied rent-to-income measure is 0.1689 and the price-to-income measure is 2.72. HUD, by contrast, supplies a program benchmark, the FY2026 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $956. The $13 gap between that HUD amount and Zillow’s $943 asking-rent index, plus the ratio of 0.986, places the two market-level benchmarks close together in this packet. It does not measure the rent burden of an actual household, because Census ACS median income is not a particular renter’s income and a two-bedroom FMR is not a record of every offered unit. The affordability boundary is consequently informative for screening questions—household income, bedroom need and lease terms—but it cannot validate affordability or payment capacity for a specific renter.

Labor, construction and resale data do not present a simple single-direction supply reading. BLS LAUS reports metro labor change of -0.0014 for the 12 months through 2026-05. Census Building Permits Survey reports 88 permitted units in 2026 year-to-date through M06, at the supplied rate of 1.9 permits per thousand people; 64 are in the 5-plus-unit category, the supplied 72.7 percent share. Permits are authorizations for new supply, not evidence in this packet that units were completed, marketed or rented. Redfin’s 2026-05-01 for-sale snapshot shows 1.7 months of supply versus 1.9 previously, a decline of 0.2 months, and median days on market of 33 versus 55, a decline of 22 days. Yet its sale-to-list ratio is 0.9731 and price-drop share is 0.5955 versus 0.3562 previously, an increase of 0.2393 in share terms. Tighter listed supply and shorter market time coexist with broader reductions, while permitting adds a separate future-pipeline question. The series do not establish why they differ or what they will do next.

IRS and HMDA add participation evidence but not a common demand count. IRS county-to-county tax-return migration, aggregated to this market, reports 942 movers in and 979 movers out, for net migration of -37. Its reported incoming AGI is $51,986, outgoing AGI is $53,522 and the supplied AGI gap is -$1,536. HMDA’s 2024 purchase-mortgage occupancy evidence lists 392 total purchases and 45 investor purchases, with an investor share of 0.1148. The HMDA count identifies investor participation within its stated purchase evidence; it does not convert IRS movers into buyers, renters or occupants. Similarly, the IRS figures do not show whether migration produced a lease or a mortgage purchase. The count, income and investor measures have different periods and units, so they should remain separate when examining who is participating in the market.

FEMA’s National Risk Index contributes a risk-and-cost boundary rather than a pricing signal. Its expected annual loss evidence gives Clinton a climate loss ratio of 0.001364 and an NRI risk score of 64.8; the listed top hazard is inland flood, in the water hazard type. This is the packet’s available cost-related risk evidence, but it is not an insurance premium, tax bill, repair estimate, utility cost or location-specific loss figure. Nothing supplied translates that FEMA ratio into a deduction from Zillow’s gross yield, a change in HUD FMR, or a household budget. The sound interpretation is narrower: flood-related risk belongs in the evidence set alongside rent and value, while its financial incidence remains unmeasured here. A market-level FEMA measure cannot identify exposure, cost or suitability for any individual building or lease.

Practical diligence should resolve the packet’s gaps rather than manufacture a forecast. A renter can compare currently available two-bedroom asking terms with Zillow’s $943 index and HUD’s $956 FMR, then evaluate those terms against the household’s own income and bedroom requirement rather than the Census ACS median. A landlord or small investor can test whether signed-rent history and all operating costs support any use of the 0.062 gross-yield figure, and can identify whether the permitted-unit pipeline represented by Census Building Permits has reached delivery. For a purchase decision, Redfin’s inventory, market-time and reduction readings need contemporaneous listing review, while HMDA investor participation should not stand in for tenant demand. IRS migration warrants separate review of local move patterns and timing. Finally, FEMA’s inland-flood signal leaves location-specific exposure and cost documentation unresolved. Resolving those items would clarify the evidence currently in tension; it would not create the unavailable Zillow 12-month rent change or justify a score, rank, market forecast or property-level conclusion.