Iowa rental market data

The 14-metro median was a $215,880 price, $1,040 monthly rent and 5.7% gross yield. The median price-to-income multiple was 3.0, while the median annual rent-to-income ratio was 17.4%. Measured gross yields ran from 5.0% at the 10th percentile to 6.5% at the 90th percentile, showing that the statewide screen contains meaningful local variation.

Burlington's $145,921 price and $1,013 rent produced an 8.3% gross yield, above the measured metro 90th percentile, while rent represented 19.3% of income. Sioux City showed a 6.7% gross yield and 20.2% rent-to-income ratio; Clinton showed 6.2% and 16.9%. These are gross relationships before vacancy, maintenance, capital work, financing, taxes and insurance, so they support initial pricing screens rather than net-return conclusions.

Employment change across 14 metros had a negative 0.3% median, with the measured distribution running from negative 2.1% at the 10th percentile to positive 0.7% at the 90th percentile. Across all 99 counties, 78,514 people moved in and 80,895 moved out, producing net migration of negative 2,381, or negative 0.7 per 1,000 residents.

The evidence does not point only downward. Incoming mover adjusted gross income exceeded outgoing income by $100,365, while Burlington recorded 1.4% job growth and Marshalltown 0.8%. That supports locality-level demand checks rather than rejection based on the state aggregate. Employment, migration and mover income also cover different periods and cannot by themselves establish occupancy, tenant retention or future rent growth.

The metro median was 2.0 months of supply and 31.5 days on market, with 32.2% of listings showing price drops and a 98.3% sale-to-list ratio. The upper end was materially slower: the 90th percentiles reached 3.6 months of supply and 60.1 days on market. Tight median inventory therefore should not be treated as uniform exit liquidity.

Fort Madison recorded 73 days on market, 4.0 months of supply and a 94.9% sale-to-list ratio. Mason City reached 61 days and 4.6 months, with a 96.4% sale-to-list ratio; Burlington took 58 days and showed a 94.0% ratio. In the counter-signal, Iowa City had 8.4 permits per 1,000 residents but only 2.2 months of current supply. Permits indicate authorized construction, not completed units, while the slow-market observations show why resale assumptions need to be set locally.

Median metro prices increased 3.7% across 14 measured markets, while median asking rents increased 3.0% across the 10 metros with rent-growth data. The supplied comparison puts rent growth 0.7 percentage point behind price growth. At the median, recent appreciation therefore did not come with equal rent acceleration.

Cedar Rapids was a clear counter-signal: asking rent increased 12.5% while price increased 3.8%, alongside a 6.2% gross yield. Iowa City also had rent growth of 5.0% versus price growth of 3.9%, but Davenport moved the other way, with 4.4% rent growth and 5.2% price growth. These measures track market asking rents and home values, not realized lease renewals or the performance of the same property, and four of the 14 metros lack rent-growth observations.

Across 99 counties, the median vacancy rate was 9.5%, the median renter share was 23.5% and the median share of renters spending at least 30% of income on rent was 37.9%. The 90th percentile for rent burden reached 49.0%. Housing was predominantly single-family at the median, with an 83.9% share, and the median year built was 1962.

Johnson County had a 56.2% rent-burden share, a 40.6% renter share and 7.2% vacancy. Monroe County had a similarly elevated 54.4% burden but 15.5% vacancy and an 18.7% renter share. Dickinson County's vacancy rate was 37.7%. These differences caution against treating renter burden as proof of a rental shortage: the ACS vacancy measure covers housing vacancy broadly and does not identify units available to a particular rental segment.

FEMA assigns inland flood as the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for all 99 counties. The median county climate-loss ratio was 0.13%, rising to 0.19% at the 90th percentile. This classification identifies each county's leading hazard; it does not mean every parcel is flood-exposed or that other hazards are absent.

Tax burden and modeled loss do not move together consistently. Clay County had a 0.27% climate-loss ratio and a 1.1% property-tax rate, while Union County had a 1.8% tax rate and a 0.11% loss ratio. Polk County's tax rate was 1.7% and its median tax was $4,396. County figures can flag where expense review matters, but parcel-level flood mapping, insurance quotes, assessments and actual tax bills remain necessary.