Dubuque County, Iowa Eviction Risk: Low

Dubuque County carries a 2.7/10 average eviction-risk score across its 20 tracked cities, landing it in the Moderate risk tier for Iowa. More telling for landlords: that average conceals a wide spread. The county's lowest-risk city clocks in at 2.6/10 and its highest reaches 5.1/10, a 2.5-point gap that makes submarket selection as important as any statewide policy consideration. With a renter share of 29.5% of households and an average rent of $1,000, the rental pool is real but not dominant, which limits vacancy absorption when turnover spikes.

At the state level, Dubuque County ranks 1 of 99 Iowa counties, meaning no other county scores higher. That places it squarely at the top of the risk distribution statewide, even though the absolute 2.6/10 score is only moderate on a national basis. Investors comparing counties across Iowa will find 98 of 99 counties easier to operate in by this measure. The rent-burden figure, 28.4% of gross income going toward rent on average, reflects a renter base that is financially stretched, which historically correlates with higher non-payment frequency.

The cities inside Dubuque County

The city of Dubuque, home to 59,174 people, drives the county's risk profile almost single-handedly. Its score of 5.1/10 is a full 1.5 points above the next-riskiest city in the county, Centralia at 2.6/10. Landlords concentrated in the city of Dubuque face conditions materially different from peers operating elsewhere in the county, and the city's weight in the county population means it pulls the county average upward regardless of how stable suburban and rural markets are.

Move outside the city limits and conditions improve quickly. Asbury, with a population of 5,989, scores 2.5/10. Dyersville, population 4,423, also scores 2.4/10. Sherrill, the lowest-risk city in the dataset, comes in at 2/10. Cascade scores 2.3/10 and Peosta 2.5/10. For investors who can underwrite the city of Dubuque's higher-risk profile or who want to avoid it, the intra-county range gives meaningful choices within a single market area.

State-level laws that apply here

Every residential tenancy in Dubuque County is governed by Iowa Code § 562A, the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law. For non-payment of rent, Iowa requires only a 3-day notice before an eviction filing can proceed, which is among the shorter cure windows in the Midwest. A lease-violation notice runs 7 days, and a no-cause end-of-term notice requires 30 days. Understanding the full Iowa eviction process matters here because uncontested cases still take 21 to 40 days from filing to resolution, and contested cases stretch to 45 to 100 days. Total out-of-pocket per eviction ranges from court filing fees of $95 to $200, plus sheriff lockout fees of $50 to $150, plus attorney fees of $500 to $2,500 when counsel is retained.

Iowa does not require just cause for eviction, and state law preempts local rent control ordinances, so no municipality in Dubuque County can impose rent caps independently. Iowa security deposit limits and Iowa tenant protections are set at the state level with no local overlay permitted. Landlords entering the Iowa Code § 562A.36 retaliation protections and the habitability standards under Iowa Code § 562A.15 should plan for a complaint process managed by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission on fair-housing matters.

With a poverty rate of 10.3% and renters making up 29.5% of households, the underlying demand fundamentals vary sharply by city, and the grid above shows exactly where that risk concentrates across Dubuque County's 20 tracked markets.