county

Jefferson County, IA

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

AI Overview

Jefferson County, IA is a small rural county of 15,676 residents that has shed 13.3% of its population over the past five years, with a median age of 43.7 and a labor force participation rate of 60.7%. At 41.6% holding a bachelor's degree or higher—notably elevated for a county of this scale—the workforce is relatively well-educated, though median worker earnings of $30,807 and an unemployment rate of 5.3% reflect constrained wage levels. Housing costs remain low, with a median home value of $161,200 and median gross rent of $881/month, and a foreign-born population share of 14.1% stands out as an above-average figure for rural Iowa.

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

Population

15,676

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$61,620

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-13.3% since 2018

Jefferson County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone13,253 (84.4%)
  • Asian Alone1,285 (8.2%)
  • Black or African American Alone399 (2.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races348 (2.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race195 (1.2%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone123 (0.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Other Indo-European350
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island263
  3. 3.Spanish234
  4. 4.Arabic202
  5. 5.Vietnamese176

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

25.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

14.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,005

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$47,191

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$35,800

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,890
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)989
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)873
  4. 4.Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing823
  5. 5.Construction (Group)662

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,984
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,519
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,008
  4. 4.Service Occupations951
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations786

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (LQ 1.90×)972
  2. 2.Construction (LQ 1.25×)664
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.24×)1,031
  4. 4.Manufacturing (LQ 1.23×)936
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.07×)1,916

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$161,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$881/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

67.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,999704 (15.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999478 (10.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999453 (9.6%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999429 (9.1%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999388 (8.2%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999331 (7.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

41.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

95.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

60.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$30,807

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

15.9 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone5,019 (69.7%)
  • Worked At Home1,307 (18.2%)
  • Walked314 (4.4%)
  • Carpooled310 (4.3%)
  • Other148 (2.1%)
  • Public Transit38 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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