Ankeny is the market investors most often ask me to compare against everything else in the metro. It grew from 67,887 people at the 2020 Census to 77,833 in the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimate - about 9,900 more residents, roughly 14.7%, in five years. Growth like that is a demand signal, but it does not make every property a good investment. This guide covers the facts I start from, where the rental math tends to work in Ankeny, and the checks I run before anyone writes an offer.
Three things keep rental demand steady here. The first is plain growth: the population numbers above mean new households arriving every year, and not all of them are ready to buy. The second is Des Moines Area Community College, which has had its main campus in Ankeny since 1968. The third is how much of the city is new: Prairie Trail alone is a 1,031-acre planned community with The District at its center, so a large share of Ankeny's housing stock is recent construction with the layouts renters ask for.
The other side of that coin is price. A newer city with steady demand is rarely a bargain, and that shapes which strategy fits.
Ankeny has a deep supply of ranches and two-stories with finished lower levels. A lower level with a bedroom, a bathroom and its own entry is the simplest house hack in the city: you live upstairs, rent the level below, and buy with an owner-occupant loan. That is usually the most forgiving way into an Ankeny property, because the rent offsets your own housing cost instead of having to carry the whole mortgage. My walkthrough of house hacking in Ankeny covers the layouts and the numbers in more detail.
At the typical value of $338,600, a home would need about $3,386 a month in rent to meet the 1% rule many investors start with (1% of $338,600 is $3,386). Most single-family homes here will not get there, which is why straight-rental investors in Ankeny usually look at older homes below the typical value, small multifamily, or a longer hold where principal paydown and appreciation do more of the work than monthly cash flow. None of that is good or bad on its own; it just has to match your goal.
You can run the first three in minutes with my free deal calculator, and the HOA side is covered in what the HOA documents say. Ask the City of Ankeny about rental registration and inspection rules for the specific property before you close; rules and fees change, and the city is the source.
If you have an address in mind, send it to me and I'll run the rent-to-price and the house-hack math with you - no pressure, just a clear answer on whether the deal works. For the wider picture, see the full Ankeny overview, what living in Ankeny is like, or my Ankeny vs. Ames comparison for investors. Comparing towns? I've written the same guide for Johnston, Polk City and Altoona.
Sources: US Census Bureau (2020 Census and July 1, 2025 estimates via QuickFacts; 2020 place-by-county file; 2024 Gazetteer internal points; school-district boundaries via TIGERweb); Zillow Home Value Index through September 30, 2026 (a typical-value estimate, not an MLS closed-sale median); Zillow market report email, October 13, 2026; Des Moines Area Community College history page; Prairie Trail / The District. Distances are straight-line miles between Census city points; the drive is longer.
Jackson Krile is a REALTOR® on the Flanders Team at RE/MAX Real Estate Center. Licensed in Iowa #S66867000. DMAAR + CIBR member. Educational only, not financial advice.
Run your numbers in the deal calculator, or send me a specific property and I'll run it with you. Whenever you're ready, I'm here.