Marshalltown, Iowa

Area Profile

27,626 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Marshalltown, in Marshall County.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 25% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity2,440th of 4,199 cities measured52
Schools3,350th of 4,162 cities measured26
Growth3,648th of 4,224 cities measured29
Housing affordabilityTop 3% of 4,218 cities measured89
Climate3,931st of 4,225 cities measured56
Physical resilience2,466th of 4,226 cities measured49
Access3,566th of 4,226 cities measured75
Economic stability2,652nd of 4,226 cities measured51
The quick read

Unemployment is 5.3% and median household income $69,068, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 60% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.0 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 9 units authorized over the past twelve months, 63% below the prior year.

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
27,626
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,068
Top 47% nationally
Density
1,439/sq mi
19.2 sq mi of land
Median age
35.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Iowa
Nearest major airport
ALO
44 mi · Waterloo Rgnl
Median home value
$127,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.3% — higher than in all but 17% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.8% over the past year, to 12,739 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsMarshall County, IA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$48,3446th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftMarshall County, IA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,79111th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,0672024 ACS 5-Year$69,068Top 47%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4912024 ACS 5-Year$30,130Bottom 37%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year14.0%Bottom 38%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.9 minTop 14%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year20.9%Top 49%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.9%45th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202612,739Bottom 7%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.4%Top 11%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.8%Top 21%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202613,4478th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year83.8%Top 29%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.0%Top 12%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.3%Bottom 17%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%40th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/07113.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.3% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202469k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $69,068 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.

60% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 55% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.0 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
59.9%
Bottom 20% in Iowa
Reading proficiency
55.0%
Bottom 7% in Iowa
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Marshalltown High SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District1,62916.158%60%
B R Miller Middle SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District73614.249%45%
Lenihan Intermediate SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District65512.661%51%
Woodbury Elementary SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District38715.562%52%
Fisher Elementary SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District36813.172%62%
Franklin Elementary SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District35811.572%62%
J C Hoglan Elementary SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District33713.567%57%
Anson Elementary SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District28611.452%52%
Rogers Elementary SchoolMarshalltown Comm School District25313.362%47%

75.5% 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 $2,157 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.69% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $959, some 8% above the $891 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $959 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,400 a year, about 56% of the median household income here of $69,068.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $891 a month.

A median home at $127,700 costs 1.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,076, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$959
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$891
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$127,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Marshalltown’s median household income of $69,068, 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%49th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2+39.6%39th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2+74.3%20th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.6Top 19%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year68.8%35th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1852024 ACS 5-Year11,04695th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$731Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,265Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$959Top 4%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$582024 ACS 5-Year$891Top 41%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,2082024 ACS 5-Year$127,70031st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1462024 ACS 5-Year$2,15759th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,1692024 ACS 5-Year$79,076Top 49%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.16%2024 ACS 5-Year1.69%85th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.0%Top 24%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±192024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%56th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2652024 ACS 5-Year91194th percentileof 32,3302024 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

29/ 100
Ranks 3,648 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 3 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 27,886 in 2024.

Permit activity fell in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 27,886 residents in 2024, up 0.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 9 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Marshall County, which contains Marshalltown, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $48,344, below the $52,791 of households that moved out.

At 0.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
9
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.3
Bottom 12% nationally
Year over year
−63%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202428k27k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$48,344
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,791
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Tama County, IA 179 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Polk County, IA 170 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Story County, IA 101 people · 7.1% of arrivals
  4. Jasper County, IA 52 people · 3.7% of arrivals
  5. Linn County, IA 52 people · 3.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Polk County, IA 236 people · 16% of departures
  2. Story County, IA 133 people · 9.0% of departures
  3. Tama County, IA 130 people · 8.7% of departures
  4. Jasper County, IA 74 people · 5.0% of departures
  5. Grundy County, IA 57 people · 3.8% 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 Marshall County, IA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420259015
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−83%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 10°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 32.8 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MARSHALLTOWN MUNI AP, 5.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals32.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals10°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals54°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and drought, with inland flooding alone responsible for 44% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtElevated
Strong windModerate
Winter weatherModerate
TornadoHigh
Cold waveElevated
LightningModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: hail, inland flooding, wildfire, landslide, ice storm, earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
283
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,302
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Marshalltown's police department reported 283 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,302.

Marshall County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.5 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 13.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 8.7 per 100,000 residents in Marshall County.

Homicide
2.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
25.0
per 100,000 residents

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Marshalltown’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 Marshalltown (Marshall County) rather than Marshalltown itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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 Waterloo Rgnl at 44 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year87.5%Bottom 40%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle44 miBottom 16%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.4%Bottom 40%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Waterloo RgnlALO44 mi8,399 ft
Des Moines IntlDSM52 mi9,004 ft
The Eastern IowaCID62 mi8,600 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
52
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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.

ZIP codes in Marshalltown

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Marshalltown with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
5015831,396$70,367$140,70053