City · Lucas County, Iowa
Chariton, Iowa
Chariton is a city in Lucas County, Iowa. It has 4,242 residents. Chariton, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 48 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,198 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #274 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), preventable hospital stays (low) and average commute time (low). It ranks worst on job growth (low), pharmacies (low) and arts, entertainment and recreation (low).
- Quality-of-life score
- #8,198 of 15,651 cities and towns
- Iowa
- #274 of 281 in IA
- Population
- 4,242 (2020-2024)
- Land area
- 4 mi²
- Density
- 1,125.7 /mi²
- FIPS code
- 1912720
Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.
Scores by category
Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.
- Safety82#2,858/15,637
- Economy12#13,704/15,631
- Housing90#1,503/14,977
- Health30#10,886/15,609
- Healthcare40#9,337/15,650
- Environment81#2,926/15,453
- Education32#10,676/15,649
- Infrastructure27#11,405/15,650
- Community72#4,386/15,651
- Leisure & amenities13#13,633/15,651
Strengths · Weaknesses
Indicators where Chariton, Iowa ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Lucas County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.
Strengths
- Rent-burdened households · low16.0%
- Preventable hospital stays · low1,497 /100k96/100Iowa 2,368 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLucas County value
- Average commute time · low15.7 min
- Home price to income ratio · low1.7×
- Social associations · high17.1 /10k95/100Iowa 14.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLucas County value
- Violent crime rate · low69 /100k
Weaknesses
- Job growth · low-6.4%1/100Iowa -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataLucas County value
- Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
- Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.1 /10k
- Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
- Broadband subscriptions · low81.4%
- Adult smoking · high20.4%11/100Iowa 16.4%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Trends
The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.
- Rent-burdened householdsImproving
43.9% (2015-2019) → 16.0% (2020-2024)
−28 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
- New homes permittedWorsening
0.7 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
- Child poverty rateImproving
29.8% (2015-2019) → 18.8% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
- Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.7% (2015-2019) → 81.4% (2020-2024)
+7.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
- Unemployment rateWorsening
3.0% (2015-2019) → 9.1% (2020-2024)
+6.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
- Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
7.6% (2015-2019) → 11.3% (2020-2024)
+3.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
What changed in five years
How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.
Cities and towns like Chariton, Iowa five years ago that improved
The places whose measures looked most like those of Chariton, Iowa in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.
Who lives here
Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).
Income
How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.
Homes
Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.
Getting to work
How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.
Local businesses
Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.
Federal contracts performed here
Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Chariton is mostly in Lucas County.
See federal money in Lucas CountyRepresentation in Congress
Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.
County
A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.
Other cities and towns in Lucas County
Largest first.
Similar cities and towns
Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).
Data and sources
Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.
- PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
- Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
- American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
- Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
- Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
- Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
- Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
- County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement
