State rental market analysis · IA
Iowa rental markets
27 tracked cities over 20,000 population, 27 ranked and summarized by their median Overall. Every number traces to Census, Zillow and BLS. All states ranked →
Browse every Iowa ZIP Code area → · the full server-rendered index for this state.
Part of the West North Central Census division (Midwest region).
The honest read
Iowa ranks #31 of 51 states for rental investing, with a median Overall of 44.7/100 across its ranked cities, below the national median. 27 ranked cities roll up into this grade.
A state grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 27 ranked cities in this state. The national rank compares all 51 states on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | State value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 6.3% | not measured |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.2% | not measured |
| Home value growth | Growth | 3.5% | not measured |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.7% | not measured |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.0% | not measured |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 3.4× | not measured |
| Unemployment | Stability | 3.1% | not measured |
| Rental demand | Stability | 36% renters · 586.6% vacancy | not measured |
| Income growth | Growth | 4.7% | not measured |
Every city in Iowa, ranked
Led by North Liberty at 62/100. Click any column to re-sort; every city links to its full shown-math breakdown.
| IA rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Liberty | 62 | A | C | C | $314,763 | 6.5% | #242 |
| 2 | Altoona | 61 | C | B | B | $321,727 | 5.5% | #277 |
| 3 | Ankeny | 57 | B | C | C | $341,196 | 5.4% | #424 |
| 4 | Waukee | 56 | B | B | D | $343,274 | 5.6% | #494 |
| 5 | Coralville | 56 | C | C | B | $264,345 | 5.6% | #497 |
| 6 | Sioux City | 55 | B | D | C | $204,472 | 7.4% | #540 |
| 7 | Fort Dodge | 55 | A | D | C | $132,746 | 7.4% | #542 |
| 8 | Bettendorf | 51 | C | C | C | $340,599 | 4.9% | #699 |
| 9 med | Mason City | 51 | A | D | C | $160,581 | 8.1% | #706 |
| 10 | Council Bluffs | 51 | B | D | B | $231,631 | 7.0% | #719 |
| 11 | West Des Moines | 48 | C | C | C | $325,031 | 5.0% | #869 |
| 12 | Des Moines | 47 | C | D | C | $212,006 | 6.4% | #939 |
| 13 | Waterloo | 46 | A | D | C | $149,005 | 7.6% | #999 |
| 14 | Cedar Rapids | 45 | B | D | D | $214,766 | 7.3% | #1047 |
| 15 | Marion | 44 | C | C | D | $281,229 | 5.6% | #1073 |
| 16 med | Ottumwa | 44 | A | D | D | $126,345 | 12.4% | #1083 |
| 17 | Urbandale | 43 | D | C | D | $354,918 | 4.1% | #1137 |
| 18 | Johnston | 41 | D | C | D | $402,429 | 4.3% | #1241 |
| 19 med | Muscatine | 40 | A | F | C | $196,852 | 8.0% | #1256 |
| 20 | Marshalltown | 40 | B | D | D | $179,538 | 6.5% | #1262 |
| 21 | Ames | 39 | D | C | C | $306,337 | 4.5% | #1306 |
| 22 | Davenport | 39 | C | D | C | $196,244 | 5.9% | #1333 |
| 23 | Burlington | 38 | A | F | C | $127,220 | 9.3% | #1361 |
| 24 | Dubuque | 37 | C | D | C | $251,952 | 5.2% | #1408 |
| 25 | Iowa City | 36 | D | C | C | $305,824 | 5.0% | #1441 |
| 26 | Cedar Falls | 36 | C | D | D | $271,320 | 5.5% | #1462 |
| 27 | Clinton | 35 | B | D | D | $135,966 | 6.8% | #1485 |
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2019–2023 · Census PEP July 2024 · BLS LAUS county 2023 annual. Generated 2026-09-01. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.
ZIP markets in Iowa
970 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) in Iowa · 504 data-eligible for subscores. These are sub-city government areas ranked separately from the Iowa city table. The overall Rental Investor ZIP Score leaderboard leads; the two component subscores (affordability, rental-market context) follow as independent percentiles. ZIP ranks are shown within the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, city ranks. Vintage: the Key metric column is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), a newer release than the ACS 2019–2023 figures the city table above uses; the same measure can legitimately disagree between the two.
Best overall ZIP Codes in Iowa
Ranked by the overall Rental Investor ZIP Score. The # is each ZIP Code's canonical IA state rank; the smaller figure is its national rank. Separate from the Iowa city table and not directly comparable to it.
| IA rank | ZIP Code | Overallgrade · national | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 50263Waukee | A 70#458 nat | 4.7%Survey yield |
| #2 | 52317North Liberty | A 69#653 nat | 4.6%Survey yield |
| #3 | 50266West Des Moines | A 69#749 nat | 4.6%Survey yield |
| #4 | 50023Ankeny | A 68#821 nat | 4.3%Survey yield |
| #5 | 50220Perry | A 68#889 nat | 7.5%Survey yield |
| #6 | 50009Altoona | A 67#1,009 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| #7 | 50021Ankeny | A 65#1,618 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| #8 | 50003Adel | B 63#2,300 nat | 2.8%Survey yield |
| #8 | 50265West Des Moines | B 63#2,300 nat | 4.7%Survey yield |
| #10 | 50322Urbandale | B 62#2,540 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #11 | 50111Grimes | B 62#2,583 nat | 4.9%Survey yield |
| #11 | 50125Indianola | B 62#2,583 nat | 4.6%Survey yield |
Top affordability ZIP Codes in Iowa
State-scoped leaders on the affordability subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Substantially an inverse housing-cost signal: a component of the overall score, not a predicted return.
| # | ZIP Code | Affordability | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52586Rose Hill | 81#1,212 nat | 9.8%Survey yield |
| 2 | 50238Russell | 76#1,893 nat | 10.1%Survey yield |
| 3 | 50650Lamont | 71#2,755 nat | 10.5%Survey yield |
| 4 | 50590Swea City | 70#2,987 nat | 12.5%Survey yield |
| 5 | 50560Lu Verne | 70#3,028 nat | 11.9%Survey yield |
| 6 | 52254Lost Nation | 69#3,253 nat | 12.6%Survey yield |
| 7 | 50642Holland | 68#3,458 nat | 7.3%Survey yield |
| 8 | 51354Ocheyedan | 68#3,483 nat | 9.6%Survey yield |
| 9 | 51243Little Rock | 66#3,869 nat | 7.9%Survey yield |
| 10 | 52335South English | 66#3,895 nat | 9.5%Survey yield |
| 11 | 50519St. Joseph | 66#3,915 nat | 6.2%Survey yield |
| 12 | 50578Ringsted | 66#3,915 nat | 7.4%Survey yield |
Deepest rental-market ZIP Codes in Iowa
State-scoped leaders on the rental-market-context subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Rental depth/tightness: a separate component, never combined here with affordability.
| # | ZIP Code | Rental market | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50309Des Moines | 78#434 nat | 5.0%Survey yield |
| 2 | 52595University Park | 78#445 nat | 8.5%Survey yield |
| 3 | 50452Latimer | 77#573 nat | 10.0%Survey yield |
| 4 | 51247Rock Valley | 76#759 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 5 | 50126Iowa Falls | 74#1,042 nat | 7.8%Survey yield |
| 6 | 50560Lu Verne | 74#1,042 nat | 11.9%Survey yield |
| 7 | 50075Ellsworth | 73#1,356 nat | 5.9%Survey yield |
| 8 | 52046Farley | 72#1,418 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| 9 | 51501Council Bluffs | 72#1,468 nat | 8.3%Survey yield |
| 10 | 51560Oakland | 72#1,523 nat | 5.9%Survey yield |
| 11 | 52361Williamsburg | 72#1,523 nat | 3.9%Survey yield |
| 12 | 52586Rose Hill | 72#1,523 nat | 9.8%Survey yield |