Living in Newton, IA

Jasper County

Newton is the real county seat of, and most populous city in, Jasper County, roughly 30 miles east of Des Moines. It carries a real, genuinely bittersweet manufacturing legacy: Maytag Corporation, born from F.L. Maytag's 1893 company, was headquartered in Newton and was the town's largest employer for nearly a century, until Whirlpool's approximately $2.6 billion 2006 acquisition led to the closure of Maytag's Newton headquarters and plant -- eliminating approximately 1,800 local jobs and ending a century of appliance manufacturing when the last washers and dryers rolled off the line in 2007. TPI Composites partially filled that gap starting in 2008, producing GE wind turbine blades in part of the vacated Maytag facility and becoming Jasper County's largest employer at its 700+-worker peak, before suspending Newton operations at the end of 2021; restart efforts, backed by a state loan and a 2022 GE lease extension, are honestly disclosed here as still-evolving rather than fully resolved. Newton is also real, genuinely home to Iowa Speedway, a 30,000-capacity NASCAR-owned oval that has sold out its Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 three consecutive years (2024-2026) and carries a real, cited $100 million annual Central Iowa economic impact. Housing runs genuinely affordable but carries a real, disclosed cross-source conflict: Redfin's median sale price ran $190,521 (June 2026, +9.0% YoY) against Zillow's notably lower $161,883 typical value (+1.0% YoY). Newton's senior (65+) population share runs a genuine, above-threshold approximately 21.5%, supporting this record's retiring-topic focus, alongside Iowa's real, current flat 3.8% state income tax and full retirement-income exemptions. Property tax runs above the Iowa statewide median (Ownwell's cited 1.74% rate), and this record discloses a real, genuinely elevated unemployment reading (roughly 4.2%-6% depending on source) honestly attributed, as inference, to Newton's manufacturing-base disruption.

Explore Newton in depth

• Moving to Newton: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Newton
• Housing in Newton
• Taxes & Insurance in Newton
• Climate in Newton
• Schools & Families in Newton
• Healthcare & Safety in Newton
• Pros and Cons of Living in Newton
• Retiring in Newton

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits retirees and buyers prioritizing genuine housing affordability and Iowa's real, low flat income tax with full retirement-income exemptions, plus motorsports fans and small-town-living buyers drawn to Newton's real, distinctive Maytag heritage and Iowa Speedway identity.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for buyers prioritizing a strong, diversified local job market -- Newton's real, disclosed elevated unemployment rate and its still-evolving TPI Composites restart status are genuine, honestly disclosed trade-offs against its affordability and tax advantages.