Home age in ZIP 51501, Council Bluffs, IA: median built 1961

Home age is not roof age, and the Census does not record replacements. ZIP 51501 in Council Bluffs, IA: median home built 1961; 85.8% of homes (13,052) are older than 25 years and 5.2% (792) were built since 2010, out of 15,217 homes.

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019 to 2023 (5-year estimates), retrieved October 9, 2026. Area = Census ZIP Code Tabulation Area 51501.

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Share of homes in ZIP 51501 by decade builtColumns from the pre-1940 decade on the left to 2020 and later on the right. pre-1940 26.9 percent; 1940s 5.3 percent; 1950s 16.6 percent; 1960s 9.8 percent; 1970s 9.9 percent; 1980s 7 percent; 1990s 10.1 percent; 2000s 9 percent; 2010s 4.8 percent; 2020+ 0.4 percentpre-1940: 4,096 homes, 26.9%26.9%pre-1940Pottawattamie County: 26.4%1940s: 812 homes, 5.3%5.3%1940sPottawattamie County: 4.6%1950s: 2,531 homes, 16.6%16.6%1950sPottawattamie County: 12.3%1960s: 1,497 homes, 9.8%9.8%1960sPottawattamie County: 9.6%1970s: 1,513 homes, 9.9%9.9%1970sPottawattamie County: 13.1%1980s: 1,070 homes, 7.0%7%1980sPottawattamie County: 6.3%1990s: 1,533 homes, 10.1%10.1%1990sPottawattamie County: 9.8%2000s: 1,373 homes, 9.0%9%2000sPottawattamie County: 12.5%2010s: 730 homes, 4.8%4.8%2010sPottawattamie County: 4.7%2020+: 62 homes, 0.4%0.4%2020+Pottawattamie County: 0.6%Built 1999 or earlier: 85.8% of homes (13,052)ZIP 51501, built before 2000built 2000 or laterPottawattamie County

Share of the 15,217 housing units in the ZIP, by decade built. The red marks are Pottawattamie County. This counts houses, not roofs: a roof is replaced several times in the life of a house, and no federal survey records when.

ZIP 51501 next to Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County

IndicatorZIP 51501Council BluffsPottawattamie CountyRank among 1 ZIPs of Council Bluffs on this site
Housing units15,21727,57640,022
Median year built196119641967
Built before 198068.7%66.6%66.1%
Built before 200085.8%no data82.1%
Built since 20105.2%no data5.3%
Owner-occupied homes66.2%64.1%70.3%
Single-family units73.3%71.1%no data
Median home value$140,400 (+/- $4,285)$164,300$183,600
Median household income$59,314 (+/- $2,952)$64,092no data

City figures are for the Census place, county figures for the county; “no data” means the Census file does not publish that figure. Value and income are survey estimates, the plus-or-minus is the 90% margin of error.

Every decade in ZIP 51501

BuiltShare of Pottawattamie CountyShare of ZIPHomes in ZIP 51501
2020+0.6%0.4%62
2010s4.7%4.8%730
2000s12.5%9.0%1,373
1990s9.8%10.1%1,533
1980s6.3%7.0%1,070
1970s13.1%9.9%1,513
1960s9.6%9.8%1,497
1950s12.3%16.6%2,531
1940s4.6%5.3%812
pre-194026.4%26.9%4,096

Counts are Census estimates of housing units by year built (table B25034). If a roof had never been replaced, it would be 3 to 6 years old on a house from the 2020s, 17 to 26 on one from the 2000s, 37 to 46 on one from the 1980s and 87 or more on one from before 1940. Most older houses have had at least one replacement, and the Census does not record when.

What the numbers say about ZIP 51501

ZIP 51501 has 15,217 housing units: 13,052 (85.8%) were built before 2000, 792 (5.2%) in 2010 or later, and 4,096 (26.9%) before 1940, its largest era. The median year built is 1961 (Council Bluffs: 1964), so 3 years older than the city.

Housing mix and money, from the same survey: 66.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied; 73.3% of units are single-family houses; the median owner-occupied home is valued at $140,400, give or take $4,285; median household income is $59,314, give or take $2,952; the ZIP holds 55.2% of the housing units the Census counts in Council Bluffs, 15,217 of them. These are survey estimates with margins of error, and for a small ZIP the margin can be wide.

Reading this for roofs, carefully: the Census records when a house was built, never when its roof was last replaced. If every roof were still the one installed with its house, 11,519 units (75.7%, built before 1990) would be past the 30-year top of the usual asphalt-shingle range, 1,533 (10.1%, the 1990s) would mostly sit past it, 1,373 (9%, the 2000s) would mostly be inside the 20 to 30 year window and 792 (5.2%, 2010 onward) would be younger than it. Most older roofs have been replaced, so treat these as the pool of houses where an old roof is possible, not as a count of old roofs.

Roof age calculator for ZIP 51501

Enter the year your house was built, and the year the roof was last replaced if you know it. It starts at the median year built for this ZIP. The share of neighbours’ homes older than yours comes from this ZIP’s own decade counts.

–years old (roof)
–of homes in ZIP 51501 are older
–vs. the ZIP median year built

Material ranges are general planning figures (the same ones as on our roof-age page), not warranties. Sun, storms, attic ventilation and installation quality move them. The decade shares assume homes were built evenly within each decade. This is not an inspection: a roofer on the roof decides.

Map: ZIP 51501 among Council Bluffs’s ZIP areas

Map of ZIP 51501 and nearby ZIP areas, shaded by the share of homes built before 2000ZIP 68106: 10,935 homes, 84% built before 2000, median year 196068106ZIP 68105: 10,633 homes, 91.3% built before 2000, median year 194668105ZIP 68107: 10,253 homes, 93.4% built before 2000, median year 194568107ZIP 68131: 7,861 homes, 79.5% built before 2000, median year 195868131ZIP 68108: 6,084 homes, 91.3% built before 2000, median year 193868108ZIP 68102: 5,922 homes, 71.9% built before 2000, median year 195168102ZIP 68147: 4,641 homes, 87.3% built before 2000, median year 196868147ZIP 68110: 3,545 homes, 74% built before 2000, median year 195068110ZIP 51501: 15,217 homes, 85.8% built before 2000, median year 196151501
  • under 20% built before 2000
  • 40 to 60%
  • 80% or more
  • Dot size = housing units. Red ring = ZIP 51501. Click a dot to open that ZIP.

Closest ZIP areas

ZIPMilesMedian builtPre-2000
681082.2 W193891.3%
681023.1 NW195171.9%
681073.4 SW194593.4%
681053.9 W194691.3%
681314.5 NW195879.5%
681474.9 SW196887.3%

Distance is between Census ZIP centres.

Storm backdrop: Pottawattamie County

A ZIP is too small for its own hail record, so this is the county. FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Pottawattamie County Relatively Low overall (80.4 of 100), Relatively High for hail (95.7), Relatively High for strong wind (95.3) and Relatively High for tornado (95.2). NOAA logged 83 hail reports in the county, on 31 days with hail of 1 inch or more in the full years 2014 to 2025.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 version, county level. This product uses FEMA’s National Risk Index data but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Where to go from here

Other roofing cities near ZIP 51501: Omaha, NE (6 miles), Bellevue, NE (6 miles), Lincoln, NE (51 miles).

Questions

How old are the homes in ZIP 51501?

Of the 15,217 housing units, 10,449 (68.7%) were built before 1980, 13,052 (85.8%) before 2000 and 792 (5.2%) from 2010 on (Census ACS 2019 to 2023, survey estimate).

Does a house's age tell me how old its roof is in 51501?

No. ACS records the year the structure was built, not the year the roof was last replaced. With 10,449 units built before 1980 in this ZIP, many roofs are replacements rather than originals. Ask the seller for permit records or have a roofer inspect the roof.

Which nearby ZIP has the oldest housing?

Of the 6 closest ZIP areas we cover, 68107 (3.4 miles SW) has the largest share built before 2000, 93.4%, against 85.8% in 51501.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2019 to 2023, tables B25034 (year structure built), B25035, B25003, B25024, B25077 and B19013, ZIP Code Tabulation Areas; ZIP-to-city assignment from the Census 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file (a ZIP is assigned to a city when more than half of its land area lies inside it). A ZCTA is not a USPS ZIP code: it approximates one and can differ at the edges. Public domain. The 12 ZIP-specific figures above differ from ZIP to ZIP.

Information only, not a roof inspection. Pickaroofer does not know the condition of any individual roof.