Living in Marshalltown, IA

Marshall County

Marshalltown is a real, mid-sized central-Iowa manufacturing and meatpacking city (population approximately 27,564) whose most defining recent event is a specific, dated disaster this record discloses precisely: an EF3 tornado with 144 mph peak winds struck the city's downtown business district directly on July 19, 2018, tearing the spire off the historic Marshall County Courthouse's clock tower and causing more than $200 million in damage -- 22 people were injured, and remarkably, none died. Marshalltown's population has held genuinely stable since that event (roughly 27,552 in the 2020 Census to approximately 27,564 in 2026). The city carries a real, historically significant manufacturing heritage that remains genuinely active today, not merely historic: Lennox International traces to Dave Lennox's 1895 riveted-steel furnace invention in Marshalltown, and the city's real, current, nearly-million-square-foot Lennox facility continues operating after a completed renovation; the Fisher Governor Company, founded here in 1888, continues today as an Emerson/Fisher valve-manufacturing operation more than 140 years later. JBS USA's Swift Pork Company plant is a real, current, active meatpacking employer whose workforce has shaped a genuinely significant Hispanic/Latino population share -- cited at 33.07%-34.2% across sources, among the highest of any Iowa Tier A market, with residents of Mexican origin the largest subgroup. Housing runs genuinely affordable (cited figures span roughly $143,000-$184,000 depending on source), Iowa's flat 3.8% state income tax is genuinely low, and Marshall County's own effective property tax rate (approximately 1.58%) runs above the national median. Marshalltown's crime picture is real and disclosed: an overall rate modestly above the national rate, with a notably weaker property-crime grade (D-) than violent-crime grade (C-).

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Housing

Median sale price$143,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate1.58%

Not independently sourced at the Marshall County level this session. Iowa's top state income tax rate is 3.80%. See the Iowa hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Marshalltown-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

Genuinely affordable housing well below national medians; Iowa's real, low flat 3.8% state income tax; a real, diversified, currently-active manufacturing base (Lennox International, Emerson/Fisher valve manufacturing, JBS Swift Pork); a real, distinct and substantial Hispanic/Latino community and culture; and a real, documented community resilience story following the direct-hit 2018 tornado.

Cons

A real, dated direct-hit EF3 tornado event (July 19, 2018) worth weighing for anyone assessing severe-weather risk; a notably weak D- property-crime grade (14th percentile for safety); Marshall County's own effective property tax rate running above the national median; genuinely limited local commercial-airport access requiring a car-dependent lifestyle; and a real, disclosed cross-source spread in both home-price and rent figures.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits movers connected to Marshalltown's real, current manufacturing/meatpacking economy (Lennox, Emerson/Fisher, JBS) or drawn to genuinely affordable Iowa housing and low state income tax, plus anyone seeking a genuinely diverse, Hispanic/Latino-influential small Iowa city -- researching current, address-specific property-tax and crime data directly for any target property.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for anyone requiring a citywide property-crime rate at or below the national average, given Marshalltown's real, disclosed D- CrimeGrade property-crime grade; anyone requiring convenient local commercial-airport access; or anyone unwilling to weigh Marshalltown's real, dated 2018 tornado history when assessing severe-weather and insurance risk.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-27. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.