Burlington: Iowa's Best Gross Yield
Program and regulatory figures verified October 7, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Burlington is the strongest gross-yield arithmetic in Iowa and the clearest example of why the yield table needs its caveats read alongside it.
The arithmetic
Typical home value $146,371. Typical asking rent $1,006 a month. Annual rent over value gives a gross yield of 8.25%, the highest of the fifteen Iowa metros publishing both series for the month ending 31 August 2026.
For scale: Des Moines is 5.29%, Iowa City 5.54%, Spirit Lake 4.20%. Burlington's advantage is not marginal. The full table.
Why the number is that high
Because the value is low rather than because the rent is high. $1,006 is unremarkable; $146,371 is the second-cheapest typical value in the state after Fort Madison. Gross yield is a ratio, and in Burlington the denominator is doing the work.
That is worth understanding, because it tells you what you are buying: an inexpensive asset producing ordinary rent, in a market that has not had the value appreciation the Des Moines corridor has.
★ The caveats, stated plainly
Depth. Burlington is a small Mississippi river market. The same property that is cheap to acquire takes longer to sell, and the buyer pool on exit is thinner than in Des Moines or Cedar Rapids.
Vacancy weighs more. On $1,006 of monthly rent, one vacant month is a larger proportion of annual income than a vacant month in a stronger-rent market. Small-market yield has to carry that.
The yield is gross. Property taxes, insurance, vacancy, management, maintenance and capital expenditure all sit outside it. In Iowa the tax line is specific: a rental gets no homestead credit, and on a 3-plus unit parcel the classification is the assessor's to assign. The tax line.
None of that makes Burlington wrong. It makes the 8.25% a starting point rather than a conclusion.
The exit here is the same statewide exit
Iowa's foreclosure rules do not vary by county. A non-owner-occupied Burlington rental sits on the same two-month post-judgment delay under §654.21 and the same no-redemption position under §654.23 as one in Des Moines. Why that matters to the loan.
Nearby, on the same river
Fort Madison is the cheapest typical value in the state at $126,448, with $690 of rent and a 6.55% yield, third-best, and an even thinner market. Davenport at $196,628 and 6.16% offers much of the yield with real metro depth. Davenport and Cedar Rapids.
Run a specific property
Send the address, the actual or market rent, and the assessor's tax figure. Burlington is a market where the gross-to-net gap decides the file.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555. (480) 296-6513.
Frequently asked questions
What is the rental yield in Burlington, Iowa?
A gross yield of 8.25% for the month ending 31 August 2026, on a typical home value of $146,371 against typical asking rent of $1,006. That was the highest of the fifteen Iowa metros publishing both a typical value and a typical asking rent. Gross yield excludes taxes, insurance, vacancy and management.Why is Burlington's yield so much higher than Des Moines?
Because the value is low rather than the rent being high. Burlington's typical value was $146,371 against Des Moines' $294,192, while the rents were $1,006 and $1,297. Gross yield is a ratio, so the cheaper denominator produces the higher figure. Burlington is also a much smaller and less liquid market.Is a small Iowa market like Burlington riskier for a rental?
It carries different risks rather than simply more. A cheap property is also slower to sell with a thinner buyer pool, and on $1,006 of monthly rent a single vacant month is a larger share of annual income than in a stronger-rent market. The gross yield has to carry those costs, which is why we underwrite the specific property rather than the market average.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about investment-property financing, not a loan commitment and not legal or tax advice. Iowa foreclosure procedure, redemption and deficiency rules are set by the Iowa Code and change; figures here carry the date we verified them against the code itself. Gross yield figures are a market indicator built from published typical values and typical asking rents, not a property-level underwrite: they exclude taxes, insurance, vacancy and management. Property classification and assessment are determined by the county assessor. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.