county

Lucas County, IA

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

AI Overview

Lucas County is a small rural Iowa county of 8,685 residents with a median household income of $61,793 and median worker earnings of $41,030, supported by a labor force participation rate of 60.9% and an unemployment rate of 3.8%. The workforce skews toward practical trades rather than credentialed occupations, with only 14.5% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, though 92.5% have a high school diploma. Housing costs are low—median home value of $117,000 and median gross rent of $738/month—with an 81.1% homeownership rate, and the county recorded modest population growth of 1.0% over five years alongside a poverty rate of 16.5%.

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

Population

8,685

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$61,793

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

41.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+1.0% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone8,215 (94.3%)
  • Some Other Race Alone168 (1.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race137 (1.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races97 (1.1%)
  • Asian Alone73 (0.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone25 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic173
  2. 2.Spanish108
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island34
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic33
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)14

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

55.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

448

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$30,808

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$32,962

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

16.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Retail Trade (Group)999
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance731
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)488
  4. 4.Construction (Group)342
  5. 5.Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing231

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,158
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations995
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations720
  4. 4.Service Occupations624
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations453

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 3.16×)206
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 2.56×)241
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 2.36×)1,051
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.32×)374
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 0.99×)401

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$117,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$738/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

78.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,999272 (9.3%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999260 (8.9%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999229 (7.8%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999217 (7.4%)
  • $60,000 to $69,999215 (7.4%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999203 (6.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

14.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

92.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

60.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$41,030

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.8 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

9.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone3,183 (82.2%)
  • Carpooled369 (9.5%)
  • Worked At Home167 (4.3%)
  • Walked86 (2.2%)
  • Other46 (1.2%)
  • Public Transit21 (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.