All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Marshalltown, IA
Marshalltown merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can tolerate weak rent momentum and flood exposure; buyers requiring strong rent growth or positive household migration should avoid it.
Median price$197k
Median rent$870
Gross yield5.3%
Job growth▲ 0.8%
Composite Market ScoreRank #77 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Marshalltown, IA?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $870 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 0.78% 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 Marshalltown
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall County, IAFIPS 19127 | $712 | $731 | $959 | $1,265 | $1,270 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Marshalltown merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can tolerate weak rent momentum and flood exposure; buyers requiring strong rent growth or positive household migration should avoid it. The $196,680 median home value and 5.31% gross yield define the acquisition and income baseline.
Opportunity lies in affordability and tight supply. The price-to-income ratio is 2.68, while months of supply is 1.9 and total permits are 32. LAUS jobs rose 0.8%, but asking rent increased just 0.78% while home-price growth reached 4.04%; the employment signal is positive, yet income growth has lagged price growth.
Risk is visible in household flows and property exposure. Tax filings show 812 households moved in and 865 moved out, a net loss of 53, while inland flood is the dominant hazard. With 43.75% of listings showing price drops, tight listed supply does not remove negotiation or resale risk. Underwrite insurance, property-level flood exposure, achievable rent, and tenant demand before treating affordability as durable.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
What rent and yield does the record show?
Median asking rent is $870 per month, two-bedroom fair-market rent is $959, and gross yield is 5.31%.
How much negotiating room is visible?
Median days on market is 30, and 43.75% of listings had price drops despite 1.9 months of supply.
How active are investors?
Non-occupants account for 9.97% of purchase mortgages; total purchases are 361.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 5.3%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 0.78%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 10.0%
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 Marshalltown as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
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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 market30 days▲ from 16 days a year ago
Listings with price drops43.8%▲ from 31.3% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio96.4%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 4.0%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 0.78%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield5.3%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.8%LAUS · 12m to 2026-05
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 steady66→66
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.
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
66| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 76 | 30% | 22.80 |
| Rent trend | 14 | 25% | 3.50 |
| Affordability | 99 | 15% | 14.85 |
| Supply pressure | 97 | 15% | 14.55 |
| Climate risk | 71 | 15% | 10.65 |
| Published score | 66 | ||
Marshalltown, IA scoreRank #77
66Job growth76/100
LAUS jobs rose 0.8% -> employment is a positive demand signal, but it has not been matched by strong rent growth.
Rent trend14/100
Median asking rent rose 0.78% and gross yield was 5.31% -> the income case rests more on current yield than recent rent growth.
Affordability99/100
Rent was 14.24% of median income and price-to-income was 2.68 -> housing costs are low relative to income, but that does not establish tenant depth.
Supply pressure97/100
Months of supply was 1.9 and permits totaled 32 -> available and incoming supply are limited, although 43.75% price drops indicate buyer leverage.
Climate risk71/100
Inland flood is the dominant hazard and the climate loss ratio was 0.001182 -> the recorded loss ratio does not remove property-specific water and insurance risk.
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
$197k
YoY ▲ 4.0%
ZORI Median Rent
$870
YoY ▲ 0.78%
Gross Rental Yield
5.3%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$870 × 12 ÷ $196,680
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.8%
LAUS payrolls
Job signal 76/100
Median Household Income
$73k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
14.2%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
2.7x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$959
Market rent 90.7% 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$870Primary 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 ↗$731−$139 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 ↗$959+$89 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 ↗$885+$15 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 Marshalltown as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
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
32 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ 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
−53
812 in vs 865 out (IRS SOI)
▼ 6.5% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$4,447
Arriving $48,344 vs leaving $52,791
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
10.0%
36 of 361 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.118% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Polk County · Tama County · Story County · Jasper County · Linn County
✓ 812 in − 865 out = -53 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, IA139 arriving
- Ames, IA61 arriving
- Waterloo, IA47 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Des Moines, IA210 leaving
- Ames, IA92 leaving
- Waterloo, IA56 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
- The record shows weak recent income growth: median asking rent rose only 0.78%.
- Tax filings show a net migration loss of 53 households, with average mover income $4,447 lower for inbound than outbound households.
- Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and property-level exposure and insurance costs are not published.
Inside this micro 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
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Marshalltown
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshalltown, IA (Target) | 66 | $197k | $870 | 5.3% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Crawfordsville, IN | 88 | $229k | $966 | 5.1% | ▲ 1.1% |
| Fremont, NE | 54 | $250k | $1,231 | 5.9% | ▲ 1.1% |
| Wahpeton, ND | 67 | $231k | $943 | 4.9% | ▲ 0.3% |
| Norfolk, NE | 59 | $261k | $1,247 | 5.7% | ▲ 0.7% |
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 |