Real estate · Metro area · Iowa
Real estate agents and brokers in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area
How the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for real estate agents and brokers: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 53 out of 100: Upper middle
Ranked #148 of 387 scored metro areas
#1 of 8 scored metro areas based in Iowa
- Listings
- 127
- 3 chain locations (2%)
- Official establishments
- 41
- +13.9% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $946.5M
- On rent and homeowner costs · $13,639 a household
- Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100)
- 137
- 37% above the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 18.3
- 40% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 169,189
- +0.5% since 2020
See the real estate agents and brokers around any address in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area
The site report maps the real estate agents and brokers on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
As of September 2026, map listings count 127 real estate agents and brokers in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area. 3 of them (2%) are chain locations, against 4% across the U.S. That comes to 18.3 for every 10,000 households, 40% below the U.S. rate of 30.6.
Household spending on rent and homeowner costs in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area comes to about $946.5M a year: $13,639 per household, 18% below the U.S. average. Housing spending per office is 37% above the U.S. figure. That figure is all rent and homeowner costs, used as a measure of housing demand; it is not money real estate agents and brokers take in.
The official count of businesses with payroll classed as offices of real estate agents and brokers in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area was 41 in 2023, up 13.9% from 2019. That is one for every 1,693 households, against one for every 788 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $678K has gone to businesses classed as offices of real estate agents and brokers in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area.
Population estimates put the population change in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +0.5%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). For real estate agents and brokers, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area has a Groundwork market score of 53 (upper middle): #148 of 387 scored metro areas and #1 of 8 scored metro areas based in Iowa.
How the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area compares
The same measures for Iowa and the whole U.S. Housing spending per listing divides all rent and homeowner costs by the listings counted: a measure of housing demand for each business, not money any of them take in, so it is shown against the U.S. (100) only. Households per establishment divides households by the official count.
| Measure | Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area | Iowa | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 18.3 | 20.3 | 30.6 |
| Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100) | 137 | 127 | 100 |
| Households per official establishment | 1,693 | 1,101 | 788 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +13.9% | +20.8% | +20.1% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +0.5% | +1.5% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on rent and homeowner costs | $13,639 | $14,016 | $16,661 |
| Median household income | $70,811 | $75,059 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 53 | 54 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 41+13.9% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 96
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $4.2M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- Not publishedNot published for this business type
- Map listings, September 2026
- 1273 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 174The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 1
- Amount
- $678K
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as offices of real estate agents and brokers in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.
Population and households in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 169,189+0.5% since 2020
- Households
- 69,396
- Median age
- 37.8
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 69%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 1,503 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 112
- Median household income
- $70,811+23.2% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $92,709
- Median home value
- $194,800
- Jobs located here
- 88,619
- Daytime population
- 179,403Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area?
These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the real estate agents and brokers on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardReal estate agents and brokers across Iowa
Every Iowa market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in Iowa for real estate agents and brokers, numbered among those based in Iowa (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area marked.
Top metro areas in Iowa
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100) | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | 53 | 127 | 18.3 | 137 | +0.5% | #148 of 387 |
| 2Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 52 | 289 | 17.9 | 142 | −0.9% | #157 of 387 |
| 3Iowa City, IA | 52 | 168 | 23.2 | 113 | +4.1% | #166 of 387 |
| 4Cedar Rapids, IA | 51 | 226 | 19.8 | 132 | +1.0% | #171 of 387 |
| 5Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 45 | 808 | 27.4 | 100 | +6.7% | #236 of 387 |
| 6Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | 43 | 133 | 24.0 | 106 | +1.0% | #251 of 387 |
| 7Dubuque, IA | 40 | 94 | 22.9 | 113 | +0.1% | #278 of 387 |
| Omaha, NE-IA | 40 | 1,062 | 27.2 | 100 | +4.2% | #280 of 387 |
| 8Ames, IA | 38 | 115 | 23.1 | 111 | +2.2% | #298 of 387 |
Other business types in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
- Real estate54
- Real estate agents and brokers53
- Property management44
- Mortgage brokers and lenders60
- Home inspectors27
Funeral services
Questions
How many real estate agents and brokers are in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area?
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area has 127 real estate agents and brokers on map listings as of September 2026. 3 of them (2%) are chain locations. The listings count real estate agents and brokerages, commercial brokers included. Official counts show 41 businesses with payroll classed as offices of real estate agents and brokers in 2023, up 13.9% from 2019.
How much do households in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area spend on rent and homeowner costs?
About $946.5M a year, or $13,639 per household. That is 18% below the U.S. average (an index of 82, where 100 is the U.S. average). For the 127 real estate agents and brokers on map listings, housing spending per office is 37% above the U.S. figure. The spending figure is all rent and homeowner costs, a measure of housing demand, not money real estate agents and brokers take in. It is estimated from the incomes of the 69,396 households in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area compare with the U.S. for real estate agents and brokers?
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area has 18.3 real estate agents and brokers per 10,000 households, 40% below the U.S. rate of 30.6. The index of housing spending per office is 137, where 100 is the U.S. At the national ratio of real estate agents and brokers to household spending, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area would have about 174, against 127 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,693 households, against one for every 788 across the U.S. The official count rose 13.9% from 2019 to 2023, against +20.1% for the U.S.
How fast is the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area growing?
Population estimates put the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area at 169,189 people in 2025, up 0.5% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 69,396 households. The median household income in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area is $70,811 a year, 12% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 23.2% from the 2015–2019 survey, before inflation.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area scores 53 for real estate agents and brokers (upper middle), #148 of 387 scored metro areas.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area. It maps the real estate agents and brokers on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for real estate agents and brokers · All 56 business types in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.