Pros and Cons of Living in Muscatine
Muscatine's core trade-off pairs genuinely affordable housing and a substantial local employer base against a comparatively high property tax rate and a real, disclosed population decline.
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Learn morePro: genuinely affordable housing
Redfin's median sale price ran $173,000 for the three months through June 2026, genuinely affordable relative to national and many Iowa benchmarks -- a real draw for buyers.
Pro: a substantial local employer base
HNI Corporation's approximately 3,100 local jobs, plus Grain Processing Corporation and Bridgestone Bandag, give Muscatine a genuinely substantial manufacturing job base relative to its population.
Con: a real, disclosed above-average property tax rate
Ownwell cites Muscatine's median effective property tax rate at 1.72% -- Iowa's highest among cities it tracks, above both the county and statewide medians.
Con: a real, gradual population decline
Muscatine's population declined from 23,797 (2020 census) to approximately 23,376 in 2026 -- a real, disclosed, gradual decline this record does not soften.
Key takeaways
- Pro: genuinely affordable housing (Redfin's $173,000 median sale price).
- Pro: a substantial local manufacturing employer base (HNI Corporation's ~3,100 jobs alone).
- Con: a real, disclosed above-average property tax rate (Ownwell's cited 1.72%).
- Con: a real, gradual, disclosed population decline since 2020.
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