The Grimes Brief
Grimes is a higher-income suburb with mostly newer housing. These are the Census Bureau's apples-to-apples numbers.
Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates. They compare well across towns, though they lag the live market.
Market sale prices move month to month and run higher than the Census "value" figure. Recent Redfin snapshots for Grimes have ranged from the low-to-mid $300,000s up toward $400,000 depending on the month, so check the current month on a site like Redfin or Zillow when you are actually shopping, rather than trusting a single number.
It depends on your county and school district. These are the combined rates for fiscal 2027, the bills due in September 2026 and March 2027, per $1,000 of taxable value:
Your total bill is a stack of levies. On the Polk side in DCG schools, the fiscal 2026 split was about $18.15 for the school district, $10.70 for the city, $6.71 for Polk County, $2.39 for Broadlawns Medical Center, $0.78 for DMACC, and small amounts for the assessor and ag extension. The DART line, $0.57 in fiscal 2025, dropped to zero in fiscal 2026 after the city left DART. The City of Grimes levy is still about $10.70 per $1,000 for fiscal 2027, and the city notes it collects only around 30% of your total bill.
Iowa taxes 44.5345% of a home's assessed value for 2025 assessments (the state "rollback"). On a $304,700 home on the Polk side in DCG schools, that is about $135,700 of taxable value and roughly $5,400 in tax, or about $5,200 after the homestead credit. The same house on the Dallas side comes to roughly $4,550 after the credit. That is a ballpark for one homestead parcel; other credits and exemptions change it.
Two things can lower yours. Some newer homes sit in city tax-exemption districts, where the combined rate was $29.09 in fiscal 2027 (Polk side, DCG) while the city's exemption runs. And homeowners 65 or older can claim an extra $6,500 homestead exemption. Starting with the September 2027 bills, a new state law replaces the homestead credit with a 10% homestead exemption. For the full breakdown, see our property tax guide, and check the county (most of Grimes is in Polk County; the west side is in Dallas County).
The city bills water, sewer, trash, and stormwater on one bill. Rates effective July 1, 2026:
At 5,000 gallons a month, with sewer billed on the same gallons, that comes to about $138 before electric and gas. Apartments pay a $3.19 stormwater fee instead. Electric is MidAmerican Energy and natural gas is Black Hills Energy; see our utilities guide for setup, and our sales tax page for what you pay at the register.
Our moving guide has the schools, the commute, and the growth story. And the Brief keeps you current once you are here.
Grimes has a median household income around $120,000, a homeownership rate near 71%, and a median home value around $305,000 per Census figures. Live market sale prices in recent months have ranged from the low $300,000s toward $400,000.
The City of Grimes levy for the current fiscal year is about $10.70 per $1,000 of taxable value, but that is only the city's share, roughly 30% of a total bill that also includes county and school levies. Check the county for the full consolidated rate on a specific address.
For fiscal 2027 (bills due September 2026 and March 2027), the combined rate for a Grimes home in Dallas Center-Grimes schools is $39.79 per $1,000 of taxable value on the Polk County side and $34.81 on the Dallas County side, per Iowa Department of Management data.
City rates effective July 1, 2026 are $11.54 per 1,000 gallons for water, $10.98 per 1,000 gallons for sewer, $17.50 a month for garbage and recycling, a $1.62 meter charge, and a $6.38 stormwater fee for a single-family home. A 5,000-gallon month comes to about $138.
$1,251 a month including utilities, according to the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey. Newer buildings often ask more.
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