52627 — Fort Madison, Iowa

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 52627. Its median home value runs 24% above Fort Madison as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 36% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 12 sources
Opportunity1,838th of 3,116 ZIP areas measured50
SchoolsTop 47% of 3,047 ZIP areas measured53
GrowthTop 45% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured53
Housing affordabilityTop 33% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured73
Climate2,636th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured60
Physical resilience2,066th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured45
Access2,944th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured58
Economic stability2,245th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured41
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.9% and median household income $56,401, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for Fort Madison, IA, which contains 52627, rather than for 52627 alone.

In the public schools here, 63% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.1 students for every teacher. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Fort Madison, IA, which contains 52627, rather than for 52627 alone.

Rent takes 30% of renter income here, at the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 1.7 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
12,677
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$56,401
Bottom 24% nationally
Density
199/sq mi
63.9 sq mi of land
Median age
41.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Fort Madison
Iowa
Nearest major airport
MLI
70 mi · Quad Cities Intl
Median home value
$116,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Fort Madison, IA, which contains 52627, is 3.9%, lower than in 67% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Fort Madison, IA, which contains 52627, fell 0.2% over the past year, to 14,003 employed residents.

Median household income of $56,401 is lower than in 76% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsLee County, IA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$53,95118th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftLee County, IA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$47,5155th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$9,4202024 ACS 5-Year$56,401Bottom 24%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1122024 ACS 5-Year$32,663Bottom 36%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.7%Bottom 39%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.0 minTop 24%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year21.5%Bottom 45%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year74.9%46th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentFort Madison, IA’s figureJuly 202614,003Bottom 8%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Fort Madison, IA’s figureJuly 2026−1.1%Bottom 39%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Fort Madison, IA’s figureJuly 2026−0.2%Top 40%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceFort Madison, IA’s figureJuly 202614,5688th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year75.2%Bottom 39%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%73rd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Fort Madison, IA’s figureJuly 2026−0.1%Bottom 47%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateFort Madison, IA’s figureJuly 20263.9%Top 33%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%37th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202457k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $56,401 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Fort Madison, IA, the city containing this ZIP code.

63% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 64% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Fort Madison, IA, which contains 52627, rather than for 52627 alone.

There are 15.1 students for every full-time teacher across 1 public school, fewer than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for Fort Madison, IA, which contains 52627, rather than for 52627 alone.

Public schools
1
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
62.6%
Top 50% in Iowa
Reading proficiency
64.0%
Top 47% in Iowa

The proficiency and staffing figures above are for Fort Madison, IA: too few schools in 52627 reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly. The schools listed below are this place’s own.

The one public school on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Fort Madison Junior/Senior High SchoolFort Madison Comm School District85214.057%57%

51.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Iowa’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa is up 40% over five years, and up 3.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,736 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.49% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $962, some 17% above the $822 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $962 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,500 a year, about 68% of the median household income here of $56,401.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $822 a month.

A median home at $116,500 costs 1.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $69,478, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$962
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$822
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$116,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 52627’s median household income of $56,401, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2+3.1%48th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2+39.6%36th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2+74.3%17th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.7Top 13%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year76.0%43rd percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3232024 ACS 5-Year6,14075th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$733Top 3%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,270Top 7%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$962Top 6%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1182024 ACS 5-Year$822Top 27%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,2802024 ACS 5-Year$116,50016th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1502024 ACS 5-Year$1,73643rd percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,5032024 ACS 5-Year$69,478Bottom 30%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.18%2024 ACS 5-Year1.49%82nd percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year29.6%Bottom 42%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±542024 ACS 5-Year4962nd percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%46th percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%53rd percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1542024 ACS 5-Year50574th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

53/ 100
Top 45% of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

88% of the 25 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses. The multifamily share is published for Fort Madison, IA, which contains 52627, rather than for 52627 alone.

At 2.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Fort Madison, IA, which contains 52627, rather than for 52627 alone.

Units permitted
25
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.5
Bottom 44% nationally
Year over year
+1150%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
88.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
60%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$53,951
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$47,515
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Des Moines County, IA 159 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Hancock County, IL 142 people · 14% of arrivals
  3. Henry County, IA 51 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. Van Buren County, IA 40 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Des Moines County, IA 148 people · 15% of departures
  2. Hancock County, IL 133 people · 13% of departures
  3. Clark County, MO 51 people · 5.1% of departures
  4. Henry County, IA 46 people · 4.6% of departures
  5. Johnson County, IA 42 people · 4.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Lee County, IA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Fort Madison, IA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 16°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 37.9 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BURLINGTON MUNI AP, 14.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals37.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals16°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals51°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

45 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 58% of it.

HailElevated
Heat waveModerate
DroughtElevated
Strong windElevated
Inland floodingElevated
TornadoHigh
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, lightning, ice storm, earthquake, winter weather, wildfire, hurricane, avalanche, tsunami, coastal flooding, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
3.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
20.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 52627 (Lee County) rather than 52627 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Fort Madison carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Quad Cities Intl at 70 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year83.5%Bottom 26%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle70 miBottom 5%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 21%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.6%Bottom 27%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Quad Cities IntlMLI70 mi10,002 ft
The Eastern IowaCID87 mi8,600 ft
General Downing - Peoria IntlPIA87 mi10,104 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
54
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

52627 vs Fort Madison

How this ZIP area compares with Fort Madison as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

52627
Fort Madison
Median household income: 52627 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$56,401
vs
$50,705
Per capita income: 52627 is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$32,663
vs
$29,507
Population density
199/sq mi
vs
1,050/sq mi
Median home value
$116,500
vs
$94,200
Median gross rent: 52627 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$822
vs
$826
Homeownership rate
76.0%
vs
72.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 52627 is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
21.5%
vs
18.5%
Poverty rate: 52627 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
12.7%
vs
14.3%
Median age
41.7
vs
42.1

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.