Decorah, Iowa.
Typical home $305,988 (+0.5% in a year), asking rent $985 .
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$880 (+121%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $1,663 +1%
- $304,326$305,988 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $68,990 +29%
- $236,998$305,988 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.
- Decorah$1,606
- Iowa$1,242
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 14 years.
Typical home values in Decorah, IA rose 0.5% over the past year — slower than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Decorah, Winneshiek County, Iowa
Decorah is a city of 7,587 people in Winneshiek County. Half its households earn more than $64,366 a year and half less, against $79,066 across Winneshiek County; 8% of its people live below the poverty line. 62% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 38% are rented. Unemployment in Winneshiek County was 2.5% in August 2026, and the county had 0.3% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then restaurants and hotels.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Decorah is a small city in northeast Iowa, and its people are a little older than the typical American community, with a four-year degree held by a good share of adults. Incomes sit below the county's as a whole, and homes here cost more than rents might suggest, though most households own the place they live in. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while summers turn warm and the year brings a fair amount of rain and melted snow.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with others in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, in manufacturing, and in shops. The largest workplaces in Decorah include Luther College, Winneshiek Medical Center and Decorah Community School District. Unemployment across Winneshiek County is low and has barely moved from a year ago, and the commute to work is short.
Things to do. In or beside town, the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum is a museum, the Steyer Opera House is a theatre, and Decorah Ice Cave State Preserve is a protected area. A short drive away, Trout River and Canoe Creek are rivers worth a visit. For a longer outing, the Upper Iowa River is a longer drive away.
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- 3,038households
- 42%of adults have a degree
- 8%below the poverty line
- 13 mintypical commute
- 11%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Winneshiek County had 10,515 jobs in 2025, 0.3% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 28° and lows near 10°; warmest in July, with highs near 84° and lows near 63°. About 38 inches of snow and 38 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Decorah weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Decorah
- Luther CollegeUniversity or college454
- Winneshiek Medical CenterCritical access hospital428FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters297
- Stanley Engineered FasteningBolts, metal, manufacturing270
- Decorah Community School DistrictSchool district255FTE
- Fareway Stores, Inc. 589 DecorahGrocery stores107
- UPSCouriers and express delivery services54
- Opportunity HomesHomes with or without health care, intellectual and developmental disability53
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 10 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,525 people in all. Colleges come from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24), hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- TornadoesVery high
- HailRelatively high
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively high
- Strong windRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Decorah’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Winneshiek County.
Decorah home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Decorah$305,988
- Iowa$236,623
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 6 Decorah listings — the market is heating up.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Decorah16.76%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Decorah34
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Decorah14
Zip codes with a Decorah address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Decorah — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.