Scores by category

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

Safety93#1,171/15,637
Economy44#8,816/15,631
Housing69#4,653/14,977
Health53#7,301/15,609
Healthcare76#3,800/15,650
Environment96#589/15,453
Education58#6,649/15,649
Infrastructure43#8,945/15,650
Community87#2,081/15,651
Leisure & amenities70#4,718/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Time spent in the emergency room · low61 min
100/100Iowa 128 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesShelby County value
Property crime rate · low139 /100k
100/100Iowa 1,172 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationShelby County value
Mammography screening · high62.0%
99/100Iowa 57.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteShelby County value
Average commute time · low13.7 min
98/100Iowa 19.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Social associations · high19.5 /10k
98/100Iowa 14.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteShelby County value
Child poverty rate · low1.6%
96/100Iowa 13.1%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty

Weaknesses

Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Iowa 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsShelby County value
Broadband subscriptions · low83.1%
7/100Iowa 88.8%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Access to exercise opportunities · low51.1%
12/100Iowa 80.0%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteShelby County value
New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Iowa 4.1 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Preventable hospital stays · high3,633 /100k
16/100Iowa 2,368 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteShelby County value
Public EV charging ports · low1.7 /10k
18/100Iowa 4.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyShelby County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
0.2 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
42.1% (2015-2019) → 52.1% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
9.7% (2015-2019) → 1.6% (2020-2024)
−8.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.0% (2015-2019) → 83.1% (2020-2024)
+7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
5.9% (2015-2019) → 2.2% (2020-2024)
−3.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Average commute timeImproving
16.4 min (2015-2019) → 13.7 min (2020-2024)
−17%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, Harlan, Iowa improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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

Broadband+7 points76.0% → 83.1%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Harlan, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.4 min2015-2019	13.7 min2020-2024	−2.7 min	Within the margin of error	77%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.2%2015-2019	22.1%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Broadband subscriptions	76.0%2015-2019	83.1%2020-2024	+7 points	Improved	44%
Effective property tax rate	1.72%2015-2019	1.53%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	56%
High school diploma or higher	91.7%2015-2019	93.0%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	56%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4472015-2019	0.4572020-2024	+0.010	Within the margin of error	42%
Median household income	$52,0632015-2019	$57,4882020-2024	+10%	Within the margin of error	17%
Poverty rate	9.2%2015-2019	9.1%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Rent as share of income	28.8%2015-2019	31.5%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Rent-burdened households	42.1%2015-2019	52.1%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Unemployment rate	3.0%2015-2019	4.8%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	18%

“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 Harlan, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Harlan, 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, Harlan, Iowa itself moved −9 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

4,891 residents (±17)

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: 10–19 men (+4.6 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

4,891 residents (±17)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

White90%4,424
Black0.7%†32
Hispanic or Latino4.8%†234

Education

3,343 residents (±153)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

No high school diploma7.0%†234
High school or GED34%1,148
Some college21%711

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

2,017 households (±133)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k20%†405
$25k–50k23%†454
$50k–75k15%†298
$75k–100k11%†221
$100k–150k14%285
$150k–200k9.4%†189
$200k or more8.2%†165

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $150k–200k (+5.8 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 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

2,017 households (±133)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

Own72%1,458
Rent28%559

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

Table view

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

Rent paid

478 households (±150)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $75043%†207
$750–1,00021%†102
$1,000–1,50033%†156

Home values

1,458 homes (±185)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $150k48%703
$150k–250k37%543
$250k–400k12%†178

Age of homes

2,229 homes (±135)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

2010 or later3.1%†69
2000–20094.3%†96
1980–199915%†326

Size of homes

2,229 homes (±135)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

Studio0.3%†7
1 bedroom12%†278
2 bedrooms20%446

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

2,161 workers (±232)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone79%1,703
Carpool5.2%†113
Public transit0.5%†10
Walk4.3%†93
Bike0.0%0
Work from home10%†221
Other1.0%†21

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Carpool (−8.7 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

1,940 workers (±236)

Harlan, Iowa
Iowa share

Under 15 min70%1,362
15–29 min15%†283
30–44 min6.3%†122

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 Shelby County, the county holding most of Harlan's residents.

Shelby County has 384 employer establishments, 326 for every 10,000 residents (1.31× the US rate of 248; 1.26× Iowa's), with 5,049 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,001. The Census Bureau also counts 943 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 384; 943 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 326; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 5,049
Average annual pay: $54,001; US $68,342

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

Truck transportation	31	26.3	5.20×More than typical	242	$51,806	59
Ambulatory health care services	20	17	0.81×About typical	83	$48,518	36
Insurance agencies and brokerages	20	17	3.86×More than typical	126	$44,532	25
Religious organizations	20	17	3.06×More than typical	57	$19,719	—
Specialty trade contractors	20	17	1.10×About typical	75	$56,133	66
Restaurants and other eating places	19	16.1	0.88×About typical	229	$15,598	6
Banks and credit unions	12	10.2	3.15×More than typical	138	$61,826	—
Building equipment contractors	11	9.3	1.55×More than typical	45	$44,089	11
Construction of buildings	10	8.5	1.12×About typical	49	$45,694	26
Full-service restaurants	10	8.5	1.10×About typical	116	$13,250	4
Lessors of real estate	10	8.5	0.69×Fewer than typical	16	$31,625	122
Offices of other health practitioners	9	7.6	1.26×Too few to compare	27	$44,667	19

Rank places for an industry Open Shelby County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 11,788 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 Harlan, 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

538.3FY2022

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

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

See federal money in Shelby 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.

Harlan, 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.

Shelby County98100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Shelby 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/1934500