City · Floyd County, Iowa

Charles City, Iowa

Charles City is a city in Floyd County, Iowa. It has 7,232 residents. Charles City, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 64 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,657 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #232 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on average commute time (low), mammography screening (high) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on reading scores (low), job growth (low) and pharmacies (low).

64High

Quality-of-life score: #5,657 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #232 of 281 in IA
Population: 7,232 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 1,179.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 1912765

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety81#2,970/15,637
Economy35#10,211/15,631
Housing92#1,257/14,977
Health51#7,651/15,609
Healthcare46#8,407/15,650
Environment85#2,359/15,453
Education21#12,360/15,649
Infrastructure28#11,304/15,650
Community78#3,438/15,651
Leisure & amenities66#5,298/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Charles City, Iowa ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Floyd 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

Average commute time · low15.2 min
97/100Iowa 19.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Mammography screening · high58.0%
97/100Iowa 57.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFloyd County value
Public libraries · high3.3 /10k
97/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesFloyd County value
Property crime rate · low372 /100k
94/100Iowa 1,172 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationFloyd County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Iowa 2.6 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataFloyd County value
Social associations · high15.7 /10k
93/100Iowa 14.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFloyd County value

Weaknesses

Reading scores · low2.63
5/100Iowa 3.05United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFloyd County value
Job growth · low-3.5%
5/100Iowa -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataFloyd County value
Pharmacies · low0.7 /10k
6/100Iowa 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFloyd County value
Mental health providers · low53 /100k
6/100Iowa 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFloyd County value
New business applications · low8.0 /1k
7/100Iowa 10.8 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauFloyd County value
Broadband subscriptions · low83.4%
8/100Iowa 88.8%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
0.4 /1k (2021) → 9.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+2,185%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
46.2% (2015-2019) → 16.5% (2020-2024)
−30 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
24.4% (2015-2019) → 13.3% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$41,060 (2015-2019) → $59,180 (2020-2024)
+44%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.2% (2015-2019) → 83.4% (2020-2024)
+8.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
High school diploma or higherImproving
86.8% (2015-2019) → 94.6% (2020-2024)
+7.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

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.

Over about five years, Charles City, Iowa improved on 4 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Child poverty−30 points46.2% → 16.5%
Poverty−11 points24.4% → 13.3%
Household income+44%$41,060 → $59,180
Broadband+8.2 points75.2% → 83.4%

Declined1

Bachelor's+−7.5 points20.3% → 12.8%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Charles City, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.1 min2015-2019	15.2 min2020-2024	+1.1 min	Within the margin of error	35%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.3%2015-2019	12.8%2020-2024	−7.5 points	Declined	3%
Broadband subscriptions	75.2%2015-2019	83.4%2020-2024	+8.2 points	Improved	50%
Child poverty rate	46.2%2015-2019	16.5%2020-2024	−30 points	Improved	98%
Effective property tax rate	1.57%2015-2019	1.28%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	73%
High school diploma or higher	86.8%2015-2019	94.6%2020-2024	+7.9 points	Within the margin of error	92%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	−0.3×	Within the margin of error	90%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4182015-2019	0.3982020-2024	−0.021	Within the margin of error	68%
Median household income	$41,0602015-2019	$59,1802020-2024	+44%	Improved	79%
Poverty rate	24.4%2015-2019	13.3%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	94%
Rent as share of income	31.2%2015-2019	29.8%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Rent-burdened households	53.4%2015-2019	49.2%2020-2024	−4.2 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Unemployment rate	3.4%2015-2019	4.6%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	25%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Charles City, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Charles City, 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.

For comparison, Charles City, Iowa itself moved +6.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

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).

Age and sex

7,232 residents (±33)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,223 households (±160)

Charles City, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k21%681
$25k–50k24%771
$50k–75k21%672

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,223 households (±160)

Charles City, Iowa
Iowa share

Own68%2,188
Rent32%1,035

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+8.7 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

3,293 workers (±260)

Charles City, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone81%2,675
Carpool12%†393
Public transit0.0%0

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.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Floyd County, the county holding most of Charles City's residents.

Floyd County has 371 employer establishments, 242 for every 10,000 residents (0.98× the US rate of 248; 0.94× Iowa's), with 5,199 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,315. The Census Bureau also counts 1,102 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 371; 1,102 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 242; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 5,199
Average annual pay: $51,315; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Floyd County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	27	17.6	1.14×About typical	156	$53,705	110
Ambulatory health care services	22	14.4	0.69×Fewer than typical	530	$54,821	34
Religious organizations	21	13.7	2.47×More than typical	105	$19,743	—
Restaurants and other eating places	20	13.1	0.71×Fewer than typical	241	$15,448	7
Truck transportation	18	11.8	2.33×More than typical	79	$55,785	34
Automotive repair and maintenance	16	10.5	2.08×More than typical	48	$35,396	33
Insurance agencies and brokerages	13	8.5	1.93×More than typical	38	$52,184	24
Building equipment contractors	11	7.2	1.19×About typical	63	$43,873	15
Full-service restaurants	11	7.2	0.94×About typical	126	$11,508	—
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	10	6.5	1.61×More than typical	30	$50,233	14
Construction of buildings	10	6.5	0.86×About typical	54	$61,315	49
Gasoline stations	10	6.5	2.02×More than typical	182	$25,165	—

Rank places for an industry Open Floyd County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 15,306 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Charles City, Iowa: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

571.5FY2017
175.2FY2018
105.7FY2019
715.9FY2020
7.2KFY2022
649.2FY2023
1.1KFY2024
-445.1FY2025

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Charles City, Iowa, so they do not add up across cities.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Charles City is mostly in Floyd County.

See federal money in Floyd County

Representation 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.

Charles City, Iowa is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Ashley HinsonR-IA-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 1.5%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Floyd County82100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Floyd 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

JSON · /api/v1/places/1912765

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends