county

Howard County, IA

Demographic and economic profile of Howard County, IA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Howard County is a small, agriculturally rooted Iowa county of 9,459 residents that grew 2.1% over five years, with a workforce characterized by a low 1.6% unemployment rate and labor force participation of 64.2%. Educational attainment skews toward high school completion (91.8%) rather than four-year degrees (18.7%), with median worker earnings of $37,604 and a median household income of $67,446. Housing costs remain low—median home value of $133,900 and median gross rent of $699/month—against a GDP per capita of $58,079, indicating meaningful output relative to reported personal income figures.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

9,459

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$67,446

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

39.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.1% since 2018

Howard County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone8,800 (93.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race226 (2.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone174 (1.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races112 (1.2%)
  • Black or African American Alone79 (0.8%)
  • Asian Alone31 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic506
  2. 2.Spanish199
  3. 3.Other Indo-European38
  4. 4.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)13
  5. 5.Other Asian and Pacific Island10

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

25.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

54.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

456

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$58,079

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$33,190

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

8.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,143
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)959
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)591
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining488
  5. 5.Construction (Group)414

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,408
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,095
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations750
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations730
  5. 5.Service Occupations675

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 6.71×)499
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 2.25×)1,043
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.17×)377
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.17×)593
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.00×)1,086

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$133,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$699/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

77.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999311 (10.6%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999280 (9.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999268 (9.2%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999259 (8.9%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999223 (7.6%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999203 (6.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

64.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,604

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

23.2 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone3,494 (76.4%)
  • Worked At Home459 (10.0%)
  • Carpooled373 (8.2%)
  • Walked156 (3.4%)
  • Other58 (1.3%)
  • Bicycle33 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Howard County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.