Des Moines / Waterloo
Waterloo has 67,008 residents (give or take 37) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,088 people per square mile.
Waterloo is about 91 miles from the Census center point for Des Moines in a straight line and covers 61.595 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Waterloo that is 50701, 50702, 50703, 50707 (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 29,283 occupied homes in Waterloo, 67% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 30% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 67% of Waterloo against electricity at 30%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Waterloo has about the Black Hawk County oil share of 0% and the same 30% electric share (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US19013, checked 2026-10-19).
Waterloo has 32,143 housing units, 22% built before 1940 and 76% before 1980, with 13% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19).
Waterloo has 4 points more pre-1940 homes than Black Hawk County as a whole (18%) and 4 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 17% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US19013, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Waterloo home was built in 1962 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.2 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19).
69% of Waterloo homes are single-family detached, 6% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 17% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19).
38% of Waterloo homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 69% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
76% of Waterloo homes were built before 1980 and only 13% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
No electric utility is on file for Waterloo on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
MidAmerican 2026 Instant Discount air source heat pump, run by MidAmerican Energy, is a live program for Iowa addresses and covers qualifying equipment at $1,200 per system (registry row 31 verified 2026-10-14, https://www.midamericanenergy.com/home-discounts-and-rebates, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Waterloo address before counting it. With 30% of Waterloo homes already on electric heat and 69% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Median household income in Waterloo is $57,480 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1982425, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
Heating design temperature: -6F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Black Hawk County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 37 to 41 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That -6F figure is the Black Hawk County cold-day number a Waterloo heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -6F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 67% of Waterloo on gas and 30% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Waterloo home has 5.2 rooms and was built around 1962, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Waterloo. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Waterloo yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.