City · Hardin County, Iowa

Iowa Falls, Iowa

Iowa Falls is a city in Hardin County, Iowa. It has 5,038 residents. Iowa Falls, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 71 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,525 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #200 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on mammography screening (high), social associations (high) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on public EV charging ports (low), gyms and fitness centers (low) and job growth (low).

71High

Quality-of-life score: #4,525 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #200 of 281 in IA
Population: 5,038 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 889.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 1938640

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety39#9,558/15,637
Economy24#11,847/15,631
Housing70#4,471/14,977
Health59#6,326/15,609
Healthcare64#5,570/15,650
Environment79#3,227/15,453
Education75#3,920/15,649
Infrastructure41#9,201/15,650
Community95#764/15,651
Leisure & amenities78#3,507/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Mammography screening · high65.0%
100/100Iowa 57.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHardin County value
Social associations · high24.9 /10k
99/100Iowa 14.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHardin County value
Public libraries · high4.9 /10k
99/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHardin County value
Drought exposure · low0%
98/100Iowa 13%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAHardin County value
Grocery stores · high3.7 /10k
97/100Iowa 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHardin County value
Average commute time · low15.0 min
97/100Iowa 19.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Iowa 4.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyHardin County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Iowa 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHardin County value
Job growth · low-3.2%
6/100Iowa -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataHardin County value
Mental health providers · low55 /100k
6/100Iowa 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHardin County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high101 mi
10/100Iowa 60 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHardin County value
Broadband subscriptions · low83.8%
11/100Iowa 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.

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
67.9% (2015-2019) → 83.8% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
19.7% (2015-2019) → 9.3% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateWorsening
1.6% (2015-2019) → 9.1% (2020-2024)
+7.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.9× (2015-2019) → 2.5× (2020-2024)
+28%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
High school diploma or higherImproving
90.1% (2015-2019) → 95.0% (2020-2024)
+4.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Public transit commutersImproving
0.0% (2015-2019) → 2.2% (2020-2024)
+2.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

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, Iowa Falls, 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+16 points67.9% → 83.8%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Iowa Falls, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	15.9 min2015-2019	15.0 min2020-2024	−0.8 min	Within the margin of error	58%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.5%2015-2019	22.9%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Broadband subscriptions	67.9%2015-2019	83.8%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	82%
Effective property tax rate	1.68%2015-2019	1.51%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	51%
High school diploma or higher	90.1%2015-2019	95.0%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Home price to income ratio	1.9×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	46%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4352015-2019	0.4662020-2024	+0.030	Within the margin of error	26%
Median household income	$45,8972015-2019	$50,4172020-2024	+9.8%	Within the margin of error	17%
Poverty rate	10.4%2015-2019	10.7%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Rent as share of income	30.2%2015-2019	30.0%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Rent-burdened households	50.5%2015-2019	49.9%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Within the margin of error	58%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.1%2015-2019	6.2%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	34%

“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 Iowa Falls, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Iowa Falls, 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, Iowa Falls, Iowa itself moved −0.9 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

5,038 residents (±27)

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

2,226 households (±115)

Iowa Falls, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k23%†522
$25k–50k26%580
$50k–75k18%405

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,226 households (±115)

Iowa Falls, Iowa
Iowa share

Own61%1,363
Rent39%863

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,187 workers (±215)

Iowa Falls, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone75%1,641
Carpool3.7%†82
Public transit2.2%†48

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 Hardin County, the county holding most of Iowa Falls's residents.

Hardin County has 499 employer establishments, 302 for every 10,000 residents (1.22× the US rate of 248; 1.17× Iowa's), with 4,845 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,729. The Census Bureau also counts 1,246 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 499; 1,246 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 302; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 4,845
Average annual pay: $48,729; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	46	27.8	1.80×More than typical	354	$64,110	128
Religious organizations	28	16.9	3.06×More than typical	91	$21,407	—
Ambulatory health care services	27	16.3	0.78×Fewer than typical	141	$56,716	21
Truck transportation	27	16.3	3.23×More than typical	88	$60,693	91
Restaurants and other eating places	22	13.3	0.73×Fewer than typical	240	$17,083	6
Automotive repair and maintenance	17	10.3	2.04×More than typical	55	$45,182	36
Building equipment contractors	17	10.3	1.71×More than typical	192	$58,125	12
Construction of buildings	14	8.5	1.12×About typical	76	$73,724	28
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	13	7.9	2.50×More than typical	43	$72,744	28
Full-service restaurants	12	7.3	0.95×About typical	100	$17,220	3
Gasoline stations	12	7.3	2.24×More than typical	175	$28,789	—
Offices of other health practitioners	12	7.3	1.20×About typical	43	$47,744	9

Rank places for an industry Open Hardin County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 16,522 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 Iowa Falls, 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

11KFY2017
952.8FY2018
2.7KFY2019
6.5KFY2020
2.5KFY2021
48FY2022
859.7FY2023

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

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

See federal money in Hardin 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.

Iowa Falls, 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.

Hardin County89100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Hardin 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/1938640

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends