Polk County, Iowa

Interactive maps and statistics for Polk County, Iowa: income, age, education, housing, health and more, set beside Iowa and the United States.

Polk County, Iowa is among the highest in the country for total population (144th of 3,222 counties).

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Key figures

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States	Rank
Total Population	503,175	3,210,507	334,922,499	144th of 3,222
Median Household Income	$83,576	$75,059	$80,734	464th of 3,221
Median Age	36.2	38.6	38.9	2848th of 3,222
Bachelor's Degree or Higher	40.3%	31.4%	35.7%	271st of 3,222
Median Home Value	$262,100	$208,000	$332,700	832nd of 3,217
Median Gross Rent	$1,149	$972	$1,413	625th of 3,215
Poverty Rate	10.3%	11.1%	12.5%	2360th of 3,222
Unemployment Rate	4.4%	3.6%	5.2%	1635th of 3,222
Population per Square Mile	878.6	57.5	n/a	204th of 3,222
Foreign Born	10.1%	5.9%	14.1%	381st of 3,222
Life Expectancy	77.5	n/a	n/a	918th of 3,062
Homeownership Rate	67.4%	71.7%	65.2%	2538th of 3,222
Average Commute Time	20.0	19.8	26.4	2537th of 3,221
Worked from Home	15.7%	11.3%	15.1%	364th of 3,222
Uninsured	5.4%	n/a	n/a	2939th of 3,134
Married-Couple Households	45.4%	48.3%	46.9%	2315th of 3,222
Broadband Access	89.5%	n/a	n/a	452nd of 3,135

Rank is among all US counties with published data, counting down from the highest value. Figures come from the American Community Survey, CDC, BLS, BEA and other federal sources. Open the map for 1,147 statistics and the year and margin of error behind each one.

Race and ethnicity in Polk County, Iowa

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States
White (non-Hispanic)	73.2%	82.3%	57.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	10.4%	7.3%	19.3%
Black (non-Hispanic)	7.3%	3.8%	11.9%
Asian (non-Hispanic)	4.9%	2.5%	5.9%
Two or More Races (non-Hispanic)	3.8%	3.5%	4.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native (non-Hispanic)	0.1%	0.2%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)	0.0%	0.2%	0.2%
Some Other Race (non-Hispanic)	0.3%	0.3%	0.6%
Diversity Index	44.5	31.4	61.4

Age in Polk County, Iowa

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States
Median Age	36.2	38.6	38.9
Under 18 %	24.4%	22.9%	22.0%
Age 18-24 %	8.8%	10.0%	9.1%
Age 25-34 %	15.2%	12.5%	13.7%
Age 35-44 %	14.2%	12.6%	13.2%
Age 45-64 %	23.4%	23.9%	24.8%
Age 65 and Over %	14.0%	18.1%	17.2%

Households and families in Polk County, Iowa

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States
Households	205,358	1,315,707	129,227,496
Average Household Size	2.4	2.4	2.5
Family Households	60.6%	61.6%	64.2%
Households with Children	31.6%	28.5%	29.5%
Single-Parent Families	15.3%	13.3%	17.3%
People Living Alone	31.2%	30.9%	28.7%
Never Married	34.0%	31.8%	34.4%

Income and poverty in Polk County, Iowa

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States
Per Capita Income	$45,622	$40,877	$44,673
Households Under $25,000	11.2%	13.9%	14.6%
Households $50,000 to $74,999	16.7%	17.5%	15.5%
Households $100,000 to $149,999	18.8%	18.7%	17.5%
Households $200,000 or More	11.6%	8.6%	13.4%
Poverty Rate	10.3%	11.1%	12.5%
Below 200% of Poverty	24.6%	26.8%	28.2%
SNAP Households	9.8%	8.8%	n/a

Housing in Polk County, Iowa

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States
Housing Units	218,486	1,437,699	143,775,355
Single-Family Detached Homes	62.7%	72.2%	61.3%
Buildings with 5+ Units	23.7%	14.5%	19.1%
Vacancy Rate	6.0%	8.5%	10.1%
Median Year Structure Built	1,982.0	1,972.0	1,980.0
Renter-Occupied	32.6%	28.3%	34.8%
Rent as % of Household Income	28.4%	27.4%	30.6%
Median Property Tax	$4,396	$2,897	n/a

Education in Polk County, Iowa

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States
Less than High School	7.5%	6.7%	10.4%
High School Graduate	23.7%	30.0%	26.0%
Some College or Associate Degree	28.5%	31.8%	27.9%
Bachelor's Degree	27.1%	20.9%	21.6%
Graduate or Professional Degree	13.1%	10.5%	14.1%

Work and commuting in Polk County, Iowa

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States
Labour Force Participation	71.4%	66.4%	63.5%
Drove Alone to Work	72.4%	76.0%	68.8%
Public Transit	0.5%	0.7%	3.2%
Walked to Work	1.4%	2.9%	2.4%
Commutes Under 15 Minutes	31.7%	41.8%	26.0%
Commutes Over an Hour	2.8%	4.1%	8.6%
Households Without a Car	5.8%	5.4%	n/a

Origins and language in Polk County, Iowa

Statistic	Polk County, Iowa	Iowa	United States
Born in State of Residence	66.5%	69.6%	57.3%
Naturalised Citizens	4.7%	2.6%	7.4%
Non-Citizens	5.4%	3.3%	6.8%
Speaks Only English at Home	85.3%	90.9%	77.7%
Speaks Spanish at Home	7.0%	4.7%	13.6%
Limited English Proficiency	13.7%	7.8%	16.7%

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