DES MOINES – The Iowa Finance Authority today announced the availability of new economic and housing data and forecasts. The information is available on the Iowa Profile, a centralized and interactive collection of demographic, economic and housing data. The Profile was commissioned by the Iowa Finance Authority and developed by Western Economic Services, LLC. Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Debi Durham, says “The Iowa Profile will help to facilitate informed discussion about housing demand at both the local and statewide level. This invaluable resource will also enhance planning capacity and will provide an additional tool to assist local governments in their ongoing housing needs assessments at no cost to them.”

The Iowa Profile provides interactive and downloadable data on a statewide and county-level basis as well as for Iowa’s largest 28 cities, Councils of Government and Local Housing Trust Fund regions and offers the ability to create fully customizable regions.

Statewide Report Highlights:

• The state’s homeownership rate was 68.9 percent in 2018, which ranks Iowa 20^th in the nation and is higher than the national average of 64.4 percent. This rate has followed national trends and has declined since 2000 when it peaked at 75.2 percent.
• The most common housing problem for Iowans is being housing cost-burdened, with 23.4 percent of Iowa households falling into this category by having housing costs exceed 30 percent of their income. Renters were the most likely to be cost burdened, with 40 percent of renters in 2017 experiencing cost burdens.
• Overall Iowa households are projected to reach 1,381,133 by 2050, of which 165,041 are expected to have incomes between 0 and 30 percent of the Median Family Income.
• According to the 2017 survey of rental properties, which covered 80,592 units across the state, the statewide vacancy rate was five percent. The most common rent was between $500-$750.

The Iowa Profile is available at IowaFinanceAuthority.gov or directly at: Westernes.com/Iowa.