Scores by category

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

Safety98#242/15,637
Economy61#6,174/15,631
Housing71#4,329/14,977
Health58#6,531/15,609
Healthcare50#7,840/15,650
Environment92#1,181/15,453
Education60#6,267/15,649
Infrastructure44#8,717/15,650
Community92#1,241/15,651
Leisure & amenities52#7,581/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Social associations · high27.3 /10k
100/100Iowa 14.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHancock County value
Public libraries · high6.6 /10k
99/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHancock County value
Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Iowa 11.4 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100k2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionHancock County value
Average commute time · low11.0 min
99/100Iowa 19.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Violent crime rate · low51 /100k
97/100Iowa 234 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHancock County value
Property crime rate · low316 /100k
96/100Iowa 1,172 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHancock County value

Weaknesses

Primary care physicians · low9 /100k
1/100Iowa 74 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHancock County value
Mental health providers · low57 /100k
7/100Iowa 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHancock County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high117 mi
8/100Iowa 60 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHancock County value
Distance to an airport · high108 mi
8/100Iowa 44 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHancock County value
New business applications · low8.5 /1k
10/100Iowa 10.8 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHancock County value
Adult obesity · high42.3%
12/100Iowa 39.7%United States 38.2%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.

New homes permittedWorsening
0.3 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
34.6% (2015-2019) → 21.9% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
0.7% (2015-2019) → 11.1% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.8× (2015-2019) → 2.6× (2020-2024)
+46%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
14.8% (2015-2019) → 6.4% (2020-2024)
−8.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Average commute timeImproving
15.4 min (2015-2019) → 11.0 min (2020-2024)
−29%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

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, Garner, Iowa improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 9 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.

Improved1

Commute−4.4 min15.4 min → 11.0 min

Declined2

Bachelor's+−13 points34.6% → 21.9%
Price / income+0.8×1.8× → 2.6×

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Garner, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	15.4 min2015-2019	11.0 min2020-2024	−4.4 min	Improved	88%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.6%2015-2019	21.9%2020-2024	−13 points	Declined	1%
Broadband subscriptions	83.0%2015-2019	88.1%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Effective property tax rate	1.26%2015-2019	1.31%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	9%
High school diploma or higher	96.2%2015-2019	90.6%2020-2024	−5.6 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.8×	Declined	29%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3762015-2019	0.4252020-2024	+0.049	Within the margin of error	17%
Median household income	$69,8312015-2019	$70,7262020-2024	+1.3%	Within the margin of error	8%
Poverty rate	8.5%2015-2019	11.5%2020-2024	+3 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	32.5%2015-2019	30.0%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Rent-burdened households	50.0%2015-2019	50.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	56%

“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 Garner, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Garner, 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, Garner, Iowa itself moved −15.2 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

3,049 residents (±14)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 70–79 women (+4.5 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

3,049 residents (±14)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

White94%2,865
Black1.1%†32
Hispanic or Latino2.0%†61

Education

2,267 residents (±100)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

No high school diploma9.4%†212
High school or GED26%585
Some college25%556

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

1,381 households (±72)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k16%†227
$25k–50k25%†350
$50k–75k16%†219
$75k–100k17%237
$100k–150k17%†238
$150k–200k4.9%†67
$200k or more3.1%†43

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,381 households (±72)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

Own80%1,108
Rent20%†273

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

228 households (±91)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $75057%†131
$750–1,00031%†70
$1,000–1,50012%†27

Home values

1,108 homes (±100)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $150k35%†388
$150k–250k34%380
$250k–400k29%†319

Age of homes

1,411 homes (±84)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

2010 or later6.1%†86
2000–20097.5%†106
1980–199916%†230

Size of homes

1,411 homes (±84)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

Studio0.8%†11
1 bedroom5.6%†79
2 bedrooms21%†301

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,368 workers (±152)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone79%1,087
Carpool13%†175
Public transit0.0%0
Walk2.8%†38
Bike0.0%0
Work from home5.0%†68
Other0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Carpool (+11.2 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

1,300 workers (±158)

Garner, Iowa
Iowa share

Under 15 min70%914
15–29 min15%†197
30–44 min14%†178

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Hancock County, the county holding most of Garner's residents.

Hancock County has 302 employer establishments, 284 for every 10,000 residents (1.14× the US rate of 248; 1.10× Iowa's), with 3,643 paid employees at an average annual pay of $57,741. The Census Bureau also counts 847 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 302; 847 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 284; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 3,643
Average annual pay: $57,741; US $68,342

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

Truck transportation	36	33.8	6.69×More than typical	147	$54,490	39
Religious organizations	22	20.7	3.73×More than typical	87	$13,276	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	14	13.2	2.61×More than typical	140	$48,279	20
Ambulatory health care services	12	11.3	0.54×Fewer than typical	99	$31,768	18
Construction of buildings	11	10.3	1.37×More than typical	55	$56,291	27
Restaurants and other eating places	11	10.3	0.56×Fewer than typical	78	$15,538	4
Specialty trade contractors	10	9.4	0.61×Fewer than typical	13	$28,308	88
Insurance agencies and brokerages	8	7.5	1.71×Too few to compare	14	$44,286	11
Offices of other health practitioners	8	7.5	1.24×Too few to compare	30	$43,767	5
Banks and credit unions	7	6.6	2.04×Too few to compare	52	$57,538	—
Gasoline stations	7	6.6	2.03×Too few to compare	121	$30,074	—
Legal services	7	6.6	1.22×Too few to compare	25	$39,920	3

Rank places for an industry Open Hancock County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 10,638 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 $407.4K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Garner, Iowa: $134 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $407.4K; +51% vs FY2025
Per resident: $134; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Federal Aviation Administration$407.4K100%

Top recipients

DIVERSIFIED MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS, INC.$271.8K67%
WEATHER DATA, INC.$135.6K33%
MOI, INC.$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

-20.2FY2017
346.5FY2019
938.3FY2020
96KFY2023
221.6KFY2024
269KFY2025
407.4KFY2026

What was bought

Professional services

Top industries (NAICS)

Other professional, scientific, and technical services · 5419$407.4K100%

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 Garner, Iowa, so they do not add up across cities.

Garner, Iowa's figures are part of those of Hancock County, IA ($24.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.7% of that total.

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

See federal money in Hancock 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.

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

House

Randy FeenstraR-IA-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.6%

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.

Hancock County94100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Hancock 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/1929955