Zip lookup · IA

50131
Johnston, Iowa.

Johnston, Polk County, IA · Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro · population 24,583

What it costs per month · 50131 $2,107/mo

to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,025 (+95%) since Jan 2020.

What the home itself did
1 year
Up $3,490 +1%
$397,849$401,338 since Sep 2025
5 years
Up $62,787 +19%
$338,551$401,338 since Sep 2021

Monthly payment to buy the typical home

Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.

$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 50131 $2,107 United States $1,922
$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2010 2018 2026
  • 50131$2,107
  • United States$1,922

At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 20 years.

Typical home values in zip 50131 rose 0.9% over the past year — slower than the nation's +1.2%.

Asking rents in zip 50131 rose 0.6% over the past year — slower than the nation's +2.7%.

Owning the typical home in zip 50131 runs $1,741/mo more than renting one — the widest that gap has been in this data.

That is $3,097 a month against $1,356 rent: a $2,107 mortgage payment, plus $561 property tax and $430 insurance & upkeep.

Owning vs renting — zip 50131

The owning line is the typical home's monthly payment at that month's rate, plus property tax and insurance & upkeep; the renting line is the typical asking rent; the grey line is the mortgage payment on its own. Same homes, same months, both ways of paying for a roof.

$1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000 2025 2026 Owning all in $3,097 Renting $1,356 Mortgage only $2,107
$1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000 2025 2026
  • Owning all in$3,097
  • Renting$1,356
  • Mortgage only$2,107

Property tax · $561/mo 1.68% of value a year — the ACS 2020-2024 median bill over the median home value for Polk County, IA

Insurance & upkeep · $430/mo insurance, maintenance and repairs together, from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey — the national figure for mortgaged homeowners, scaled to this market's home value. BLS publishes the three bundled and they cannot be split.

Both are priced off the same month's home value, so they rise with the market. Neither is a quote — a specific home's bill depends on its assessment, its age and its insurer.

Zillow also publishes an index for the city itself: Johnston, IA — measured over the city limits, which is a different area from this zip.

Asking rent $1,356 as of Sep 2026
+0.6%year on year
Typical home value $401,338 as of Sep 2026
+0.9%year on year

Asking rent — 50131

Against the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro and the national benchmark.

$1,200 $1,400 $1,600 $1,800 2025 2026 50131 $1,356 Des Moines $1,280 United States $1,932
$1,200 $1,400 $1,600 $1,800 2025 2026
  • 50131$1,356
  • Des Moines$1,280
  • United States$1,932

Typical home value — 50131

Mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.

$200,000 $300,000 $400,000 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 50131 $401,338 Des Moines $292,513 United States $366,157
$200,000 $300,000 $400,000 2018 2022 2026
  • 50131$401,338
  • Des Moines$292,513
  • United States$366,157

Within 20 miles

Showing 30 of 44 zips in range — sorting picks from all 44.

10 mi 20 mi 50 mi
Miles Zip City Population Rent Home value
4.3 50111 Grimes 16,865 $1,396 $346,634
4.5 50322 Urbandale 31,931 $1,030 $289,882
4.9 50023 Ankeny 46,306 $1,459 $355,240
5.4 50310 Des Moines 31,177 $913 $231,801
5.8 50313 Des Moines 17,440 $1,158 $184,332
6.4 50324 Windsor Heights 5,143 $1,400 $284,142
6.5 50323 Urbandale 17,265 $2,075 $457,873
6.6 50109 Granger 3,309 — $382,079
6.9 50226 Polk City 7,759 $1,616 $429,534
7.0 50325 Clive 19,012 $1,857 $434,039
7.1 50311 Des Moines 14,574 $942 $225,988
7.9 50314 Des Moines 10,438 $1,082 $158,505
8.0 50021 Ankeny 30,283 $1,469 $318,429
8.4 50312 Des Moines 15,802 $1,144 $294,463
8.8 50316 Des Moines 16,710 $1,228 $162,391
9.3 50309 Des Moines 10,110 $1,261 $244,123
9.6 50007 Alleman 444 — $381,604
10.1 50265 West Des Moines 33,488 $1,310 $308,180
10.4 50266 West Des Moines 37,523 $1,368 $334,561
10.5 50263 Waukee 29,611 $1,632 $343,051
10.5 50317 Des Moines 36,548 $1,252 $191,095
11.2 50321 Des Moines 7,900 $1,057 $355,961
11.2 50063 Dallas Center 2,720 — $330,034
11.2 50244 Slater 1,729 — $296,086
11.6 50243 Sheldahl 361 — $227,194
11.7 50315 Des Moines 34,816 $1,073 $194,462
12.0 50073 Elkhart 1,208 — $327,938
13.6 50035 Bondurant 10,131 $1,245 $331,526
13.8 50320 Des Moines 24,807 $1,220 $263,487
14.0 50009 Altoona 22,886 $1,588 $320,331

Coordinates and population from SimpleMaps US Zips (Basic). Rent and home values from Zillow Research.