Dallas County, Iowa Eviction Risk: Very Low

Dallas County scores 2.4/10 (Very Low) on average across its 15 cities, placing it at rank 12 of 99 Iowa eviction laws counties, meaning 11 counties carry higher eviction risk and 87 are more landlord-friendly. That puts the county in the higher-risk third of the state, a position that can surprise investors who assume fast-growing suburban territory automatically translates to easy operations. For landlords, the average monthly rent of $1,187 and a rent-burden rate of 25.1% suggest most tenants can service their leases, which helps explain why the overall score stays in the Low tier.

The range of scores inside the county, from 2.1 to 2.7, is wide enough to matter significantly in underwriting. At the low-risk end, conditions are among the most stable in Iowa eviction laws; at the high end, a landlord faces dynamics closer to the state's more challenging markets. Average renter share sits at 30.9% of households, a relatively modest share that keeps absolute eviction volume contained but also means rental inventory is tight and tenant churn can be disruptive when it does occur.

The cities inside Dallas County

Perry eviction risk carries the highest eviction-risk score in the county at 2.7/10. With a population of 29,236, it is the largest city in Dallas County by a wide margin and accounts for a substantial share of all rental activity. Adel, the county seat, comes in at 2.4/10 with 6,430 residents, matching the county average exactly. Perry, at 2.7/10 and a population of 7,985, rounds out the top tier of cities where landlords should underwrite operating costs and notice timelines carefully before acquiring units.

Further down the risk scale, Dallas Center scores 2.3/10 and Van Meter comes in at the county low of 2.1/10. Markets like these offer a considerably more stable operating environment. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: Waukee and Woodward sit less than 20 miles apart yet carry a nearly two-point spread. Investors running multi-property portfolios across several of these towns should not assume the county average describes any individual submarket.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Dallas County operates under Iowa eviction laws Code § 562A (Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law). For nonpayment of rent, Iowa eviction laws law requires just a 3-day notice before filing, one of the shorter statutory windows in the Midwest. A lease-violation cure notice runs 7 days, and a no-cause end-of-term notice requires 30 days. Understanding the full Iowa eviction laws eviction process matters here because even with short notice periods, an uncontested case runs 21 to 40 days from filing to lockout and a contested case can extend to 45 to 100 days. On Iowa eviction costs: filing fees range from $95 to $200, sheriff lockout fees from $50 to $150, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500, so a contested removal can reach the high end of those component ranges quickly.

Iowa eviction laws does not require just cause for termination, and state law preempts any local rent control ordinance, so no city inside Dallas County can impose its own rent cap. Landlords must give tenants 24 hours notice before entering a unit under Iowa eviction laws Code § 562A. Fair housing enforcement is handled by the Iowa eviction laws Civil Rights Commission; source-of-income is not a protected class under Iowa eviction laws state law.

With a county poverty rate of 7.8% and roughly 30.9% of households renting, the tenant base in Dallas County is relatively financially stable, though conditions vary city by city across all 15 municipalities listed in the grid above.