The median home value in Ames, IA is $306,337 as of 2026-07-31, up 2.73% from a year earlier.
Median Home Value
$306,337
Year-over-Year
+2.73%
Population
65,426
Ames ranks #21 of 72 Iowa cities tracked here by median home value, and sits 41.6% above the state's city median of $216,316. It sits in Story County, where the county-wide median is $296,730.
Median household income in Ames is $60,991, so the typical home value is about 5.0× annual household income. This is a simple price-to-income benchmark rather than a monthly payment estimate; it does not account for mortgage rates, down payments, taxes or insurance.
Household income comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's ACS 5-Year Estimates, table B19013 (how the affordability measure works).
Ames police recorded a violent crime rate of 148 per 100,000 residents in 2024 — around the middle of the range for reporting cities. Property crime runs at 1,506 per 100,000.
Reported by the city's own police department to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program (what this covers).
People often call this an average home price, but the figure shown here is Zillow's typical home value (ZHVI), not a simple arithmetic average. In Ames, that value is $306,337. That's up 2.73% from a year earlier. It is about 41.6% above the typical Iowa city tracked here.
Homes in Ames are more expensive than Story County as a whole, where the median is $296,730 — a difference of about 3.2%.
Median household income here is $60,991, so the typical home value is about 5.0× annual household income. This ratio is a broad comparison measure, not a mortgage-payment estimate.
Ames police reported 148 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, covering a population of about 65,426. Crime rates are one input among many — they vary block to block within a city, and this figure is a citywide average.
Glenwood · Indianola · North Liberty · Decorah · Winterset · Windsor Heights · Le Mars · Waverly