Data Coverage and Zestimate® Accuracy

The home data we have compiled to generate a Zestimate home valuation varies by location. Some counties provide all the data we could hope for, but others are lacking such key things as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, or, in some cases, the square footage of the home. The more data we have, the more accurate the Zestimate. And, we've made it easier for our users to help us improve accuracy by incorporating edited home facts into our Zestimate calculations. In some areas, we might not be able to produce a Zestimate at all, but we do have some basic information on the homes. The tables below show you where we have Zestimates and other home information.

To measure the accuracy of the Zestimates, we've gone back in time and compared the historic Zestimates with the actual transaction prices of homes that sold. The tables below also provide various measures of that accuracy.

What's a Zestimate?

A Zestimate home valuation is Zillow's estimated market value. It is not an appraisal. Use it as a starting point to determine a home's value. Learn more.

  • Iowa Counties

Iowa

County Zestimate Accuracy % Homes on Zillow % Homes With Zestimates Within 5% of Sale price Within 10% of Sale Price Within 20% of Sale Price Median Error
Adair 64% 0% -- -- -- --
Adams 63% 0% -- -- -- --
Allamakee 73% 0% -- -- -- --
Appanoose 57% 0% -- -- -- --
Audubon 53% 0% -- -- -- --
Benton 45% 0% -- -- -- --
Black Hawk 99% 0% -- -- -- --
Boone 84% 0% -- -- -- --
Bremer 75% 0% -- -- -- --
Buchanan 64% 0% -- -- -- --
Buena Vista 67% 0% -- -- -- --
Butler 15% 0% -- -- -- --
Calhoun 65% 0% -- -- -- --
Carroll 0% 0% -- -- -- --
Cass 56% 0% -- -- -- --
Cedar 72% 0% -- -- -- --
Cerro Gordo 98% 0% -- -- -- --
Cherokee 68% 0% -- -- -- --
Chickasaw 62% 0% -- -- -- --
Clarke 75% 0% -- -- -- --
Clay 64% 0% -- -- -- --
Clayton 99% 0% -- -- -- --
Clinton 85% 0% -- -- -- --
Crawford 44% 0% -- -- -- --
Dallas 99% 0% -- -- -- --
Davis 74% 0% -- -- -- --
Decatur 44% 0% -- -- -- --
Delaware 81% 0% -- -- -- --
Des Moines 99% 0% -- -- -- --
Dickinson 62% 0% -- -- -- --
Dubuque 99% 0% -- -- -- --
Emmet 65% 0% -- -- -- --
Fayette 64% 0% -- -- -- --
Floyd 67% 0% -- -- -- --
Franklin 64% 0% -- -- -- --
Fremont 45% 0% -- -- -- --
Greene 67% 0% -- -- -- --
Guthrie 57% 0% -- -- -- --
Hamilton 67% 0% -- -- -- --
Hancock 67% 0% -- -- -- --
Hardin 74% 0% -- -- -- --
Harrison 72% 0% -- -- -- --
Henry 74% 0% -- -- -- --
Howard 77% 0% -- -- -- --
Humboldt 66% 0% -- -- -- --
Ida 55% 0% -- -- -- --
Iowa 70% 0% -- -- -- --
Jackson 69% 0% -- -- -- --
Jasper 73% 0% -- -- -- --
Jefferson 60% 0% -- -- -- --
Johnson 82% 0% -- -- -- --
Jones 62% 0% -- -- -- --
Keokuk 32% 0% -- -- -- --
Kossuth 61% 0% -- -- -- --
Lee 70% 0% -- -- -- --
Linn 93% 84% 30% 56% 83% 8.6%
Lucas 77% 0% -- -- -- --
Lyon 59% 0% -- -- -- --
Madison 75% 0% -- -- -- --
Mahaska 69% 0% -- -- -- --
Marion 66% 0% -- -- -- --
Marshall 99% 0% -- -- -- --
Mills 62% 0% -- -- -- --
Mitchell 52% 0% -- -- -- --
Monona 11% 0% -- -- -- --
Monroe 81% 0% -- -- -- --
Montgomery 69% 0% -- -- -- --
Muscatine 75% 0% -- -- -- --
O Brien 71% 0% -- -- -- --
Osceola 58% 0% -- -- -- --
Page 64% 0% -- -- -- --
Palo Alto 73% 0% -- -- -- --
Plymouth 76% 0% -- -- -- --
Pocahontas 86% 0% -- -- -- --
Polk 99% 99% 33% 55% 77% 8.8%
Pottawattamie 97% 0% -- -- -- --
Poweshiek 60% 0% -- -- -- --
Ringgold 50% 0% -- -- -- --
Sac 18% 0% -- -- -- --
Scott 70% 0% -- -- -- --
Shelby 60% 0% -- -- -- --
Sioux 78% 0% -- -- -- --
Story 0% 0% -- -- -- --
Tama 37% 0% -- -- -- --
Taylor 37% 0% -- -- -- --
Van Buren 56% 0% -- -- -- --
Wapello 65% 0% -- -- -- --
Warren 86% 0% -- -- -- --
Washington 65% 0% -- -- -- --
Wayne 70% 0% -- -- -- --
Webster 67% 0% -- -- -- --
Winnebago 77% 0% -- -- -- --
Winneshiek 75% 0% -- -- -- --
Woodbury 72% 0% -- -- -- --
Worth 44% 0% -- -- -- --
Wright 96% 0% -- -- -- --

Last updated: October 21, 2009
Note: Zestimate accuracy is computed by comparing the final sale price to the Zestimate on or before the sale date. The data herein is computed for the three-month period ending June 30, 2009.

Click here to download an Excel spreadsheet of this data.

Definitions

Zestimate Accuracy/Star Rating:
This rating is tied to the Median Error in an area.
The ratings are as follows:
  • Four Stars = Best Zestimate
  • Three Stars = Good Zestimate
  • Two Stars = Fair Zestimate
  • One Star = Tax assessor's value, or unable to compute Zestimate accuracy
  • 0 stars = No valuation
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Tax Assessor's Value

Depending on the jurisdiction where you live, this value could be the tax assessed, tax appraised, or market assessed value. This value comes from the taxing authority of the city, county or state where you live; this is not Zillow's value.

Note: Tax assessor's values differ from Zillow's Zestimate, which is computed by entering numerous data points into a proprietary formula, often resulting in a more accurate value estimate.

Homes on Zillow:
This indicates the percentage of homes for which we have data (e.g., number of bedrooms or bathrooms) in a particular locale. These are the homes you can find via maps or search on Zillow.com.
Homes With Zestimates:
We can only calculate Zestimates for homes where we have certain data, including transactions. This column indicates the percentage of homes in an area with Zestimates.
Within 5% of Sale Price:
This is the percentage of transactions in a location for which the Zestimate was within 5% of the transaction price. For example, in the Portland area, 29% of the time the Zestimate was within 5% of the selling price.
Within 10% of Sale Price:
This is the percentage of transactions in a location for which the Zestimate was within 10% of the transaction price.
Within 20% of Sale Price:
This is the percentage of transactions in a location for which the Zestimate was within 20% of the transaction price.
Median Error:
Half of the Zestimates in an area were closer than the error percentage and half were farther off. For example, in Seattle, Zestimates for half of the homes are within 9.3% of the selling price, and half are off by more than 9.3%.
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