What is the cheapest city to buy a house in Iowa?

Burlington, with a median closed price of $116,500 over its reporting window, among Iowa cities where Resideline tracked at least 100 closings inside the city limits.

Are these asking prices or sale prices?

Closed sale prices. Every price median is the price homes actually closed at inside the municipal boundary, not a listing price. The one column measured differently is realized appreciation, which uses the postal city, as the note under the table says.

Why does a cheap city show a high price per square foot?

Because the ranking median covers every property type that closed, condos and multi-family included, while the $/sqft column is single-family houses only. In cities where most sales are condos, the median price is low and the house $/sqft can still be high.

Is the appreciation figure a forecast?

No. It is the median annual change between consecutive sales of the same home, on repeat-sale pairs. It is historical and nominal, and it says what happened, not what will.

Cheapest Cities to Buy a House in Iowa (2026)

These are the Iowa cities with the lowest median closed home price over their reporting window, among cities where Resideline tracked at least 100 closings inside the municipal limits. Cheapest is not the same as best value, so each city also shows what houses closed at per square foot, what history says about appreciation, and how fast listed homes went under contract.

The ranking

#	City	Median closed price	Houses $/sqft	Realized appreciation	Days to contract	Closings	Window
1	Burlington	$116,500	$87	3.57%/yr	49	223	six months
2	Mason City	$160,033	$113	4.04%/yr	54	279	six months
3	Waterloo	$180,000	$121	3.86%/yr	10	496	six months
4	Davenport	$190,000	$143	3.79%/yr	14	695	six months
5	Cedar Rapids	$213,750	$139	3.23%/yr	6	1,198	six months
6	Sioux City	$215,000	$135	5.67%/yr	17	610	six months
6	Des Moines	$215,000	$192	4.24%/yr	17	1,742	six months
8	Council Bluffs	$220,333	$148	5.39%/yr	8	403	six months
9	Dubuque	$238,000	$143	4.80%/yr	8	434	six months

1. Burlington, $116,500

Burlington's median closed price over the last six months was $116,500, around 45 percent of what the typical Iowa sale closed at. 223 closings sit behind that figure, about 37 a month, enough to price against. Single-family houses closed at a median of $87 per square foot across 208 sales with usable living area. Between consecutive sales of the same home, prices moved a median 3.57 percent a year (695 pairs, postal-area scope), a historical figure rather than a projection. Listed homes went under contract in a median of 49 days. About 11.0 percent of listings that sold were marketed as-is or distressed, which is high and part of why the entry price is low. Full detail is on the Burlington market page.

2. Mason City, $160,033

Homes in Mason City closed at a median of $160,033 over the last six months, about 62 percent of the Iowa statewide median. Resideline tracked 279 closings there, roughly 46 a month. Single-family houses closed at a median of $113 per square foot across 250 sales with usable living area. Between consecutive sales of the same home, prices moved a median 4.04 percent a year (712 pairs, postal-area scope), a historical figure rather than a projection. The median listed home took 54 days to go under contract, across 121 listed closings. Full detail is on the Mason City market page.

3. Waterloo, $180,000

Waterloo's median closed price over the last six months was $180,000, around 69 percent of what the typical Iowa sale closed at. Resideline tracked 496 closings there, roughly 83 a month. On a per-square-foot basis, houses there closed at a median of $121, measured on 435 sales. Between consecutive sales of the same home, prices moved a median 3.86 percent a year (1,675 pairs, postal-area scope), a historical figure rather than a projection. The median listed home was under contract in 10 days, so a buyer here needs financing lined up before the search, not after. Full detail is on the Waterloo market page.

4. Davenport, $190,000

Davenport's median closed price over the last six months was $190,000, around 73 percent of what the typical Iowa sale closed at. Resideline tracked 695 closings there, roughly 116 a month. Single-family houses closed at a median of $143 per square foot across 623 sales with usable living area. Between consecutive sales of the same home, prices moved a median 3.79 percent a year (2,455 pairs, postal-area scope), a historical figure rather than a projection. The median listed home was under contract in 14 days, so a buyer here needs financing lined up before the search, not after. About 10.2 percent of listings that sold were marketed as-is or distressed, which is high and part of why the entry price is low. Full detail is on the Davenport market page.

5. Cedar Rapids, $213,750

The median closed price in Cedar Rapids is $213,750 across the last six months, which puts it at roughly 82 percent of the state figure. 1,198 closings sit behind that figure, about 200 a month, enough to price against. On a per-square-foot basis, houses there closed at a median of $139, measured on 921 sales. Homes that sold twice appreciated at a median of 3.23 percent a year between those sales, on 5,137 repeat-sale pairs across the postal area that shares the city's name; that is what happened, not what will. The median listed home was under contract in 6 days, so a buyer here needs financing lined up before the search, not after. About 7.3 percent of listings that sold were marketed as-is or distressed, which is high and part of why the entry price is low. Full detail is on the Cedar Rapids market page.

6. Sioux City, $215,000

Homes in Sioux City closed at a median of $215,000 over the last six months, about 83 percent of the Iowa statewide median. 610 closings sit behind that figure, about 102 a month, enough to price against. Single-family houses closed at a median of $135 per square foot across 540 sales with usable living area. Between consecutive sales of the same home, prices moved a median 5.67 percent a year (1,549 pairs, postal-area scope), a historical figure rather than a projection. The median listed home was under contract in 17 days, so a buyer here needs financing lined up before the search, not after. About 10.9 percent of listings that sold were marketed as-is or distressed, which is high and part of why the entry price is low. Full detail is on the Sioux City market page.

6. Des Moines, $215,000

The median closed price in Des Moines is $215,000 across the last six months, which puts it at roughly 83 percent of the state figure. Resideline tracked 1,742 closings there, roughly 290 a month. On a per-square-foot basis, houses there closed at a median of $192, measured on 1,570 sales. Homes that sold twice appreciated at a median of 4.24 percent a year between those sales, on 12,135 repeat-sale pairs across the postal area that shares the city's name; that is what happened, not what will. Listed homes went under contract in a median of 17 days, which is fast for the state and leaves little time to deliberate. About 6.5 percent of listings that sold were marketed as-is or distressed, which is high and part of why the entry price is low. Full detail is on the Des Moines market page.

8. Council Bluffs, $220,333

Council Bluffs's median closed price over the last six months was $220,333, around 85 percent of what the typical Iowa sale closed at. 403 closings sit behind that figure, about 67 a month, enough to price against. On a per-square-foot basis, houses there closed at a median of $148, measured on 376 sales. Between consecutive sales of the same home, prices moved a median 5.39 percent a year (1,484 pairs, postal-area scope), a historical figure rather than a projection. The median listed home was under contract in 8 days, so a buyer here needs financing lined up before the search, not after. About 9.8 percent of listings that sold were marketed as-is or distressed, which is high and part of why the entry price is low. Full detail is on the Council Bluffs market page.

9. Dubuque, $238,000

The median closed price in Dubuque is $238,000 across the last six months, which puts it at roughly 92 percent of the state figure. 434 closings sit behind that figure, about 72 a month, enough to price against. On a per-square-foot basis, houses there closed at a median of $143, measured on 365 sales. Between consecutive sales of the same home, prices moved a median 4.80 percent a year (1,549 pairs, postal-area scope), a historical figure rather than a projection. The median listed home was under contract in 8 days, so a buyer here needs financing lined up before the search, not after. Full detail is on the Dubuque market page.

Note: realized appreciation is the one column measured on the postal city, from repeat sales of the same home across the ZIP codes that share the city's name; every other figure is confined to the municipal boundary.

How to read this list

A low median is where the analysis starts, not where it ends. Property type, size, condition and block move a number far more than the city line does, so check any address on this list against its own comparable closings.

Figures last updated September 5, 2026 from closings Resideline tracked. Appreciation is the median annual change between consecutive sales of the same home; it is historical, nominal and not a projection.