Jefferson, Iowa.
Typical home $176,665 (+3.7% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$548 (+145%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $6,334 +4%
- $170,331$176,665 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $52,744 +43%
- $123,922$176,665 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.
- Jefferson$927
- Iowa$1,242
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 10 years.
Typical home values in Jefferson, IA rose 3.7% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Jefferson, Greene County, Iowa
Jefferson is a city of 4,182 people in Greene County. Half its households earn more than $58,895 a year and half less, against $63,409 across Greene County; 7% of its people live below the poverty line. 75% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 25% are rented. Unemployment in Greene County was 4.0% in August 2026, and the county had 2.1% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then shops.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Jefferson is the small city that serves as the seat of Greene County, Iowa, and its residents tend to be older than in most American places. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and typical home values are modest. Household incomes are somewhat below the county's, and fewer adults hold a four-year degree than in many parts of the country.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in professional and business services, and in manufacturing. Among the largest workplaces in Jefferson are the Greene County Community School District, Greene County Medical Center and Hy-Vee. Jobs across Greene County have slipped a little from the year before, and unemployment in the county is higher than it was a year earlier. The typical commute is fairly short, and few people work from home.
Things to do. Squirrel Hollow Park is a protected area a short drive away, and it is the nearest place to get outdoors. A longer drive brings you to Springbrook State Park and to Ledges State Park, both protected natural areas, and to the Iowa Arboretum, a botanical garden. Winters here are cold and snowy, with a good deal of precipitation across the year, and summers are warm.
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- 2,085households
- 21%of adults have a degree
- 7%below the poverty line
- 22 mintypical commute
- 6%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Greene County had 3,139 jobs in 2025, 2.1% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 28° and lows near 9°; warmest in July, with highs near 83° and lows near 63°. About 32 inches of snow and 35 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Jefferson weather station, a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Jefferson
- Greene County Comm School DistrictSchool district194FTE
- Greene County Medical CenterCritical access hospital179FTE
- Hy-VeeSupermarkets and other grocery except convenience stores90
- Russell BrandsAthletic goods manufacturing76
- Fareway Stores, Inc. 888 JeffersonGrocery stores71
- Syngenta SeedsSeed processing, post-harvest for propagation39
- Landus CooperativeAgricultural cooperative27
- The Gardens of JeffersonAssisted-living facilities with on-site nursing facilities23
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 6 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 326 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); 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
- Cold wavesVery high
- DroughtRelatively high
- Strong windRelatively high
- HailRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Jefferson’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 Greene County.
Jefferson home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Jefferson$176,665
- Iowa$236,623
- United States$366,157
Levy by levy, and a check of one home’s own bill, the site covers Ohio’s property tax.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 5 Jefferson listings — the market is cooling.
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.
- Jefferson19.63%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Jefferson46
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Jefferson7
Zip codes with a Jefferson address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Jefferson — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.