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Ranked · Best value · Iowa

Best value cities in Iowa

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Best value” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

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Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Marshalltown, IA28k residents

    78/100

    cost of living index: 73 · median home price: $127,700 · median household income: $69,068

  2. 2.Ottumwa, IA25k residents

    76/100

    cost of living index: 73 · median home price: $106,300 · median household income: $61,103

  3. 3.Mason City, IA27k residents

    74/100

    cost of living index: 75 · median home price: $142,000 · median household income: $64,804

  4. 4.Waterloo, IA67k residents

    71/100

    cost of living index: 75 · median home price: $152,600 · median household income: $57,480

  5. 5.Davenport, IA101k residents

    69/100

    cost of living index: 77 · median home price: $166,400 · median household income: $66,200

  6. 6.Sioux City, IA86k residents

    69/100

    cost of living index: 77 · median home price: $173,600 · median household income: $68,906

  7. 7.Cedar Rapids, IA137k residents

    66/100

    cost of living index: 79 · median home price: $187,100 · median household income: $70,424

  8. 8.Council Bluffs, IA63k residents

    66/100

    cost of living index: 78 · median home price: $171,800 · median household income: $64,578

  9. 9.Dubuque, IA59k residents

    65/100

    cost of living index: 79 · median home price: $204,800 · median household income: $65,845

  10. 10.Marion, IA42k residents

    64/100

    cost of living index: 82 · median home price: $241,700 · median household income: $86,743

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is the best value in Iowa?
Marshalltown, IA ranks first with a fit score of 78/100, followed by Ottumwa (76) and Mason City (74), using the "Best value" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.