Living in Marshalltown, IA
Small city in Iowa
Marshalltown is a small city in Iowa, home to about 27,000 people, with 95,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, most trips are by car. Life moves at a slow, calm pace, and homes are mostly houses.
Is Marshalltown a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $180k and rents for $1,270 a month
- Mild summers: highs around 82°F
- Low natural disaster risk: 9 federally declared disasters since 2000
👎 Cons
- Quieter on culture: few museums and attractions nearby
- Fewer graduates: 20% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Smaller job market: about 95,000 people live within 31 mi
- Fewer outdoor escapes: no big hills or water close by
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Marshalltown ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Marshalltown: common questions
What is the cost of living in Marshalltown?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $180k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,270 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 89, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Marshalltown?
Iowa collects about $1,192 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 1.78% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Marshalltown safe?
Violent crime is close to the national rate (1.0× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Marshalltown?
Public schools in Marshalltown test below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 14 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Marshalltown?
Marshalltown has long, snowy winters: winter days average around 31°F and summer days around 82°F, with roughly 25″ of snow a year.
Does Marshalltown get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is low, mainly from flooding, tornadoes and strong wind: 9 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.61 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Marshalltown?
The nearest major airport is DSM, about 52 mi away.
How Marshalltown scores
Each bar compares Marshalltown with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Marshalltown
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in Iowa.
Is Marshalltown right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.