City · Allamakee County, Iowa

Postville, Iowa

Postville is a city in Allamakee County, Iowa. It has 2,979 residents. Postville, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 60 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,303 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #243 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on grocery stores (high), public libraries (high) and restaurants and bars (high). It ranks worst on mental health providers (low), adult obesity (high) and new business applications (low).

60Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,303 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #243 of 281 in IA
Population: 2,979 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,390.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 1964290

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.

Safety78#3,429/15,637
Economy12#13,743/15,631
Housing81#2,811/14,977
Health55#6,998/15,609
Healthcare25#11,780/15,650
Environment93#1,158/15,453
Education37#9,935/15,649
Infrastructure28#11,268/15,650
Community85#2,358/15,651
Leisure & amenities67#5,132/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Grocery stores · high4.2 /10k
98/100Iowa 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAllamakee County value
Public libraries · high4.2 /10k
98/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesAllamakee County value
Restaurants and bars · high17.6 /10k
97/100Iowa 9.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAllamakee County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low97 min
97/100Iowa 128 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAllamakee County value
Mammography screening · high57.0%
96/100Iowa 57.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAllamakee County value
Drought exposure · low0%
96/100Iowa 13%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAAllamakee County value

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low28 /100k
2/100Iowa 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAllamakee County value
Adult obesity · high45.8%
4/100Iowa 39.7%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
New business applications · low7.9 /1k
6/100Iowa 10.8 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauAllamakee County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high21.7%
7/100Iowa 6.4%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Average weekly wage · low$922
8/100Iowa $1,221United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAllamakee County value
Poverty rate · high23.7%
11/100Iowa 11.2%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,547 (2015-2019) → 2,979 (2020-2024)
+17%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
59.4% (2015-2019) → 88.1% (2020-2024)
+29 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
High school diploma or higherImproving
65.3% (2015-2019) → 81.6% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Child poverty rateImproving
41.7% (2015-2019) → 26.9% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
30.3% (2015-2019) → 23.7% (2020-2024)
−6.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.6× (2015-2019) → 2.1× (2020-2024)
+29%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Postville, Iowa improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 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.

Improved3

High school++16 points65.3% → 81.6%
Broadband+29 points59.4% → 88.1%
Child poverty−15 points41.7% → 26.9%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Postville, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.9 min2015-2019	16.9 min2020-2024	−4.0 min	Within the margin of error	85%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.2%2015-2019	14.2%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Broadband subscriptions	59.4%2015-2019	88.1%2020-2024	+29 points	Improved	97%
Child poverty rate	41.7%2015-2019	26.9%2020-2024	−15 points	Improved	89%
Effective property tax rate	1.71%2015-2019	1.56%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	46%
High school diploma or higher	65.3%2015-2019	81.6%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	99%
Home price to income ratio	1.6×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	50%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3872015-2019	0.4002020-2024	+0.013	Within the margin of error	40%
Median household income	$51,2502015-2019	$49,4852020-2024	−3.4%	Within the margin of error	5%
Poverty rate	30.3%2015-2019	23.7%2020-2024	−6.5 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Rent as share of income	25.7%2015-2019	28.1%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Rent-burdened households	41.5%2015-2019	44.6%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	16.2%2015-2019	21.7%2020-2024	+5.5 points	Within the margin of error	9%

“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 Postville, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Postville, 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, Postville, Iowa itself moved +0 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

2,979 residents (±341)

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

936 households (±123)

Postville, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k17%†162
$25k–50k35%326
$50k–75k16%†147

Homes

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

Owners and renters

936 households (±123)

Postville, Iowa
Iowa share

Own51%480
Rent49%456

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−10.4 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,129 workers (±156)

Postville, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone66%749
Carpool13%†148
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 Allamakee County, the county holding most of Postville's residents.

Allamakee County has 365 employer establishments, 258 for every 10,000 residents (1.04× the US rate of 248; 0.99× Iowa's), with 3,775 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,844. The Census Bureau also counts 1,272 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 365; 1,272 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 258; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 3,775
Average annual pay: $42,844; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	36	25.4	1.64×More than typical	104	$88,981	139
Restaurants and other eating places	23	16.2	0.88×About typical	215	$11,330	—
Religious organizations	22	15.5	2.80×More than typical	119	$18,244	—
Full-service restaurants	19	13.4	1.75×More than typical	178	$9,635	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	14	9.9	1.96×More than typical	43	$43,023	28
Building equipment contractors	14	9.9	1.64×More than typical	29	$53,966	27
Ambulatory health care services	11	7.8	0.37×Fewer than typical	93	$44,645	46
Insurance agencies and brokerages	11	7.8	1.77×More than typical	35	$38,171	26
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	10	7.1	2.24×More than typical	42	$128,000	24
Gasoline stations	10	7.1	2.18×More than typical	139	$26,921	—
Lessors of real estate	9	6.4	0.52×Too few to compare	11	$36,727	137
Commercial and industrial machinery repair	8	5.6	8.30×Too few to compare	18	$61,278	4

Rank places for an industry Open Allamakee County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 14,163 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 $378 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Postville, Iowa: $0.13 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $378
Per resident: $0.13; US $1,994
Sole-source: 44%; US 30%
Single offer: 29%; 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

Defense Logistics Agency$378100%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

0FY2018
662.2FY2019
3KFY2020
508.9FY2021
58.5FY2024
378.2FY2026

What was bought

Other equipment & supplies$378100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Plastics product manufacturing · 3261$24966%
Resin, synthetic rubber, and artificial fibers manufacturing · 3252$10127%
Rubber product manufacturing · 3262$27.957.4%

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

Postville, Iowa's figures are part of those of Allamakee County, IA and Clayton County, IA ($5.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Allamakee 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.

Postville, 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.

Other cities and towns in Allamakee 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/1964290

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends