What is the property tax rate in Iowa?
The property tax rate in Iowa averages 1.33% of home value for owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation 2026, based on the 2024 American Community Survey). That puts Iowa among the ten highest-rate states, above Missouri and Minnesota and below Illinois and Nebraska.
Iowa property taxes are actually figured from a levy rate per $1,000 of taxable value. The Legislative Services Agency reports a statewide average consolidated rate of $32.41 per $1,000 for fiscal year 2026. Its county map also lists a statewide average urban rate and a statewide average rural rate, which we read as about $36.89 and $25.29. The consolidated rate is applied to taxable value, which is assessed value multiplied by a rollback percentage, so the tax as a share of market value is much lower than $32.41 per $1,000 suggests.
How Iowa property taxes are calculated
Your bill is assessed value times the rollback percentage, times your consolidated levy rate per $1,000, minus any credits or exemptions. Each piece comes from a different office.
- Assessed value: set by the city or county assessor at market value as of January 1 (Iowa Code 441.21).
- Rollback: a statewide percentage set by the Department of Revenue each fall for each property class.
- Consolidated levy rate: the total of county, city or township, school district, community college and other levies in your tax district.
- Credits and exemptions: for example, urban revitalization exemptions on improvements. Homestead relief applies only to owner-occupied homes.
How assessed value is set in Iowa
Iowa assesses property at actual value, which the Code defines as fair and reasonable market value: what a willing buyer and willing seller would agree on, neither under pressure. The assessor must consider sale prices of the property itself or comparable property in normal transactions, and must exclude or adjust abnormal sales such as foreclosures, sales between family members and contract sales.
When a market value cannot be readily set from sales, the assessor may use income, cost and other appraisal methods, but not just one factor alone. Apartment buildings are often valued with an income approach, so your rent roll and expenses can matter as much as nearby sales.
Iowa reassesses real estate every two years. Under Iowa Code 428.4, each odd-numbered year is a reassessment year, and the value is as of January 1. The next reassessment is January 1, 2027.
Iowa rollbacks: how much of your value is taxed
Only a percentage of assessed value is taxed, and for 2025 assessments that percentage is 44.5345% for residential property, which today includes apartment buildings. The Department of Revenue certified the 2025 figures in an order dated October 27, 2025. Taxes in Iowa are paid a year behind, so 2025 assessments fund the bills due in September 2026 and March 2027.
Commercial and industrial property gets a two-tier rollback: the first $150,000 of value at the residential rate and the rest at 90%. Apartment buildings were once a separate multiresidential class, but 2021 legislation folded them into residential starting with the 2022 assessment, which is why a 30-unit building now gets the same rollback as a house.
| Property class | 2025 rollback (Department of Revenue) |
|---|---|
| Residential, including apartment buildings | 44.5345% |
| Commercial and industrial, first $150,000 | 44.5345% |
| Commercial and industrial, above $150,000 | 90.0000% |
| Agricultural (excluding dwellings) | 59.4401% |
The 2026 law: apartment buildings become their own class again
Senate File 2472, signed May 18, 2026, recreates a multiresidential property class starting with the 2027 assessment year and gives it a higher rollback than homes. According to the Legislative Services Agency’s final fiscal note, the class covers properties that were classified as multiresidential before 2022. The older class covered properties made up primarily of three or more separate living quarters.
The rollback for the new class is the residential percentage plus 3 points for 2027, and plus 6 points for 2028 and later, never above 100% of actual value. For equalization, multiresidential property is still treated as residential. If the residential rate stayed at today’s 44.5345%, an apartment building would be taxed on 47.5345% of its value for 2027 and 50.5345% from 2028, which is 13.5% more taxable value than now.
Starting in fiscal year 2028, the same law caps county general and rural services levies, city general fund levies and most other rate-limited levies at 102% of the prior year’s property tax dollars, not counting new valuation, and limits unassigned general fund reserves to 35% of budgeted general fund spending. From January 1, 2027, assessors must explain any increase of 10% or more and defend it on protest unless it comes from equalization, improvements or renovations. It also replaces the homestead credit with a homestead exemption, which does not apply to rental property.
| Assessment year | Apartment rollback under SF 2472 | At today’s residential rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 and 2026 | Residential rate | 44.5345% |
| 2027 | Residential rate plus 3 points | 47.5345% |
| 2028 and later | Residential rate plus 6 points | 50.5345% |
Does Iowa reassess property when it sells?
No. A sale does not trigger a new assessment in Iowa. Values change in the odd-numbered reassessment years, plus any year the assessor picks up new construction or other changes.
The sale still matters. Iowa Code 441.21 tells the assessor to take into account the sale price of the property itself in a normal transaction. A building assessed at $1,600,000 that sells for $2,000,000 in 2026 hands the assessor a strong reason to raise its value at the January 1, 2027 reassessment, and buyers in Iowa should underwrite to that.
Is there a cap on Iowa property tax increases?
Iowa has no cap on an individual property’s assessed value. The limit works at the statewide level: the rollback formula holds growth in total taxable residential and agricultural value to about 3% a year, as Story County explains, so the rollback percentage falls when values rise fast.
From fiscal year 2028, SF 2472 adds a levy limit: county and city general levies and most other rate-limited levies can raise no more than 102% of the prior year’s property tax dollars, not counting new valuation. A single building can still see a bigger jump if its own value rises faster than the market, or when the multiresidential rollback steps up in 2027 and 2028.
How to appeal your property assessment in Iowa
File a protest with your local board of review between April 2 and April 30 of the assessment year, under Iowa Code 441.37. In a county under a disaster declaration, the window moves to May 1 through June 5.
You can argue that the assessment is higher than market value, inequitable compared with similar property, wrongly classified, in error, or the result of fraud. For apartment owners, the first and third grounds come up most, and the classification ground will matter more once the multiresidential class returns in 2027. Bring a rent roll, operating statements and recent sales.
If the board rules against you, you can appeal to the Property Assessment Appeal Board within 20 days after the board adjourns or May 31, whichever is later (Iowa Code 441.37A).
- January 1: valuation date; odd-numbered years are reassessment years.
- April 2 to April 30: protest to the local board of review.
- 20 days after the board adjourns or May 31, whichever is later: appeal to PAAB.
Property tax exemptions for Iowa apartment buildings
Iowa’s main tool for apartments is the urban revitalization exemption under Iowa Code chapter 404, and it only applies where a city or county has adopted a revitalization plan. It exempts value added by improvements, not the existing building.
The statute offers a 3-year exemption of 100% of the value added, a 10-year declining exemption that starts at 80% and steps down to 20%, and for residential property a 10-year exemption of 100% of the value added. To qualify, improvements must raise actual value by at least 10% for residential property or 15% for other property, unless the local plan sets a lower threshold. If your building has an exemption running, give a buyer the approval letter and the remaining years.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Iowa apartment building
They use the 2025 residential rollback and the statewide FY 2026 average consolidated rate of $32.41 per $1,000, and actual rates vary a great deal by district.
Take a 24-unit building in Polk County assessed at $1,600,000. Taxable value is $1,600,000 x 44.5345%, or $712,552, and at $32.41 per $1,000 the yearly tax is about $23,094, close to 1.44% of assessed value.
Now a buyer pays $2,000,000 in 2026. The sale does not change the bill right away. At the January 1, 2027 reassessment, if the assessor moves the value to the $2,000,000 price and the new apartment rollback of 47.5345% applies, taxable value becomes $950,690 and the tax about $30,812, up $7,718 a year. From 2028, at 50.5345%, the tax would be about $32,756, or $9,663 more than today.
Buyers price that in. At an illustrative 6% cap rate, $7,718 less NOI cuts about $128,600 from what a buyer can pay, and $9,663 cuts about $161,000. Sellers who can show a buyer the real numbers, rather than a scary guess, tend to hold more of their price.
| Scenario | Taxable value | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|
| Today: $1.6M assessed, 44.5345% rollback | $712,552 | $23,094 |
| 2027: reassessed to $2M, 47.5345% rollback | $950,690 | $30,812 |
| 2028: $2M, 50.5345% rollback | $1,010,690 | $32,756 |
| Value lost at 6% cap rate (2027 increase) | n/a | about $128,600 |
Iowa property tax rates by county and city
Rates in Iowa are set for each tax district, so two buildings in the same county can pay different rates. The statewide average consolidated rate for FY 2026 is $32.41 per $1,000 of taxable value. The LSA’s county map also shows an urban average of about $36.89 and a rural average of about $25.29, a gap of roughly $11.60. Most apartment buildings are in urban districts, so expect a rate above the statewide figure.
To find your exact rate, look up the parcel with your county treasurer or auditor and read the tax district and consolidated levy on the statement. Then multiply your assessed value by the rollback and the rate. Our property tax calculator does the same math for any rate you enter.
Selling an apartment building in Iowa
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Iowa, in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Iowa City, Sioux City and smaller markets. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We underwrite from your actual tax statements and the SF 2472 schedule, so the buyer’s tax estimate is grounded in your numbers.
For the tax on the sale itself, see our page on Iowa capital gains tax on real estate. For tenant rules a buyer inherits, see Iowa landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
