Cost of living in Iowa

Iowa at a glance

Median rent

$972

Census ACS, B25064, monthly

Median household income

$75,059

Census ACS, B19013, yearly

Median home value

$208,000

Census ACS, B25077

Median property tax bill

$2,897

Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners

Mean commute

20 min

Census ACS, DP03, one way

Unemployment

3.6%

Census ACS, DP03

Iowa's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 12% below the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Census ACS 2024 five-year estimates, checked November 2026.

The three most populous counties in Iowa

These are the most populous places in Iowa, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

• Polk County

  Population

  503K

  Rent

  $1,149

  Household income

  $83,576

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $4,396

  Set as targetPlan

• Linn County

  Population

  230K

  Rent

  $945

  Household income

  $77,649

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $3,547

  Set as targetPlan

• Scott County

  Population

  175K

  Rent

  $1,005

  Household income

  $78,277

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $3,273

  Set as targetPlan

Iowa, worth the trip

Admitted to the Union on December 28, 1846, as the 29th state. Iowa came to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Settlers moved in to farm land taken from the Fox and Sauk in the 1830s, before the Territory of Iowa was established in 1838.

• Effigy Mounds National Monument

  More than 200 American Indian mounds in the Upper Mississippi River Valley, sacred to many tribes.

• Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

  The birthplace of President Herbert Hoover in West Branch, set in a memorial landscape.

• Backbone State Park

  Iowa's first state park, with a narrow bedrock ridge above the Maquoketa River, trout streams and 21 miles of trails.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in Iowa

Current owners in Iowa pay a median 1.39% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $2,897 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $1,111 in Pocahontas County to $5,001 in Dallas County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Health in Iowa

Life expectancy

77.8 yrs

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics

No health insurance

5.4%

County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65

Poor or fair health

15.5%

County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted

Injury deaths per 100K people

73

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for Iowa as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in Iowa

Expected yearly loss, statewide

$1.8B

All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more

Building loss rate

$1.34

Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states

Costliest hazard

Inland flooding

$725M of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses

Air quality

—

The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

New homes permitted in Iowa

Side by side

Polk County, IA is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

The largest counties in Iowa

By population, from the Census release named below. Each opens its own page.

1. 1Polk County503K
2. 2Linn County230K
3. 3Scott County175K
4. 4Johnson County157K
5. 5Black Hawk County131K
6. 6Dallas County108K
7. 7Woodbury County106K
8. 8Story County100K
9. 9Dubuque County99K
10. 10Pottawattamie County93.4K

All 99 counties in Iowa

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

• State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
• County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
• Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
• Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
• Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
• Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
• Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.

What to do with these numbers

Every number here is public. The site adds your side of it: Iowa next to your own state, by what you value.

• See Iowa beside your own state

  Find your fit puts it next to where you live and the states next door, by what matters to you. Made-up answers are fine, since this is a tool, not a survey. No account needed.

  Find your fit

• Pick a county here and make it your target

  The three counties above each carry Set as target. From there the Journey lays out the runway and the steps. An account keeps it private and yours across devices.

  See the three counties