Story County, Iowa Eviction Risk: Moderate

Story County carries a 4/10 Moderate eviction-risk score, placing it sixth of 99 Iowa eviction laws counties, meaning only five counties in the state carry higher risk and 93 are more landlord-friendly. For investors evaluating central Iowa, that ranking signals a real concentration of pressure: a renter share of 48.5% across the county's 14 cities, an average rent burden of 29.1% of income, and a poverty rate of 21.1% all push the baseline score toward the upper-moderate range. The average rent of $1,029 per month is not especially high, which limits pricing flexibility when tenant financial stress rises.

The intra-county spread runs from 2.9 to 4.4, a range wide enough that the county average obscures meaningfully different operating conditions depending on where a property sits. Landlords treating Story County as a uniform market are reading the wrong numbers.

The cities inside Story County

Nevada leads the county at 4.4/10, the highest risk of any city in Story County. With a population of 6,983, it is a small city where a concentrated renter base and limited economic alternatives amplify landlord exposure. Ames, the county seat and largest city at 67,669 residents, scores 4.2/10, driven in large part by its substantial student population, which creates high renter density and elevated turnover. Maxwell also scores 4.2/10, a notable data point given its population of only 905, suggesting localized stress well above what its size might imply.

The lower end of the risk spectrum looks quite different. Story City scores 2.9/10, the lowest in the county, with a population of 3,398. Huxley, Roland, Slater, and Gilbert all score 3.2/10, representing a cluster of smaller communities where landlord conditions are measurably more stable. The gap between Nevada's 4.4 and Story City's 2.9 underscores that risk in Story County is hyper-local: two properties a short drive apart can sit in materially different operating environments.

State-level laws that apply here

Iowa state law, under Iowa Code § 562A (Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law), sets the procedural framework for every eviction in Story County. For nonpayment of rent, the landlord must provide a 3-day notice before filing. Lease violations with an opportunity to cure require a 7-day notice, and no-cause end-of-term terminations require 30 days. Understanding the Iowa eviction process from notice through court hearing matters because even an uncontested case takes 21 to 40 days, and a contested matter can run 45 to 100 days. Total out-of-pocket costs vary widely: court filing fees range from $95 to $200, sheriff lockout fees from $50 to $150, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500, depending on case complexity and whether the tenant contests.

Iowa imposes no rent control and does not require just cause for nonrenewal, giving landlords meaningful flexibility at lease end. The state also preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so no Story County municipality can impose caps above state law. Iowa security deposit limits and other tenant-facing rules are governed by the same § 562A framework, and Iowa tenant protections around retaliation are codified separately under Iowa Code § 562A.36. Landlords should review both before setting lease terms or responding to repair complaints.

With a poverty rate of 21.1% and nearly half of all residents renting, the financial fragility underlying Story County's score is not evenly spread, which is why reviewing individual city scores in the grid above is the most reliable starting point for any acquisition or portfolio decision here.