Marshalltown, Iowa
Area Profile
27,626 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Marshalltown, in Marshall County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 13 sourcesUnemployment 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
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.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsMarshall County, IA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $48,344 | 6th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftMarshall County, IA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $52,791 | 11th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$3,0672024 ACS 5-Year | $69,068 | Top 47%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,4912024 ACS 5-Year | $30,130 | Bottom 37%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 14.0% | Bottom 38%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 18.9 min | Top 14%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 20.9% | Top 49%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 75.9% | 45th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 12,739 | Bottom 7%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | +3.4% | Top 11%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | +0.8% | Top 21%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 13,447 | 8th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 83.8% | Top 29%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.0% | 1st percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | −1.0% | Top 12%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 5.3% | Bottom 17%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 5.7% | 40th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
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.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshalltown High School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 1,629 | 16.1 | 58% | 60% |
| B R Miller Middle School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 736 | 14.2 | 49% | 45% |
| Lenihan Intermediate School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 655 | 12.6 | 61% | 51% |
| Woodbury Elementary School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 387 | 15.5 | 62% | 52% |
| Fisher Elementary School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 368 | 13.1 | 72% | 62% |
| Franklin Elementary School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 358 | 11.5 | 72% | 62% |
| J C Hoglan Elementary School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 337 | 13.5 | 67% | 57% |
| Anson Elementary School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 286 | 11.4 | 52% | 52% |
| Rogers Elementary School | Marshalltown Comm School District | 253 | 13.3 | 62% | 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →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.
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.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2 | +3.1% | 49th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2 | +39.6% | 39th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2 | +74.3% | 20th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year | 1.6 | Top 19%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 68.8% | 35th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±1852024 ACS 5-Year | 11,046 | 95th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $731 | Top 3%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,265 | Top 5%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $959 | Top 4%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$582024 ACS 5-Year | $891 | Top 41%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$8,2082024 ACS 5-Year | $127,700 | 31st percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1462024 ACS 5-Year | $2,157 | 59th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$7,1692024 ACS 5-Year | $79,076 | Top 49%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.16%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.69% | 85th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 23.0% | Top 24%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±192024 ACS 5-Year | 0 | 1st percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.0% | 1st percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.2% | 56th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±2652024 ACS 5-Year | 911 | 94th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Tama County, IA 179 people · 13% of arrivals
- Polk County, IA 170 people · 12% of arrivals
- Story County, IA 101 people · 7.1% of arrivals
- Jasper County, IA 52 people · 3.7% of arrivals
- Linn County, IA 52 people · 3.7% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Polk County, IA 236 people · 16% of departures
- Story County, IA 133 people · 9.0% of departures
- Tama County, IA 130 people · 8.7% of departures
- Jasper County, IA 74 people · 5.0% of departures
- 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
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.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 32.8" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 10°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 83°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 54°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
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.
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.
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.
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.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 87.5% | Bottom 40%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 44 mi | Bottom 16%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 3 | Bottom 20%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 9.4% | Bottom 40%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waterloo Rgnl | ALO | 44 mi | 8,399 ft |
| Des Moines Intl | DSM | 52 mi | 9,004 ft |
| The Eastern Iowa | CID | 62 mi | 8,600 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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Similar places
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Moving to Marshalltown from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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 areaEvery ZIP area in Marshalltown with census figures of its own, largest first.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50158 | 31,396 | $70,367 | $140,700 | 53 |