City · Lyon County, Iowa

Rock Rapids, Iowa

Rock Rapids is a city in Lyon County, Iowa. It has 2,661 residents. Rock Rapids, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 88 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,842 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #87 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), social associations (high) and preventable hospital stays (low). It ranks worst on mental health providers (low), gyms and fitness centers (low) and distance to an Amtrak station (high).

88Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,842 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #87 of 281 in IA
Population: 2,661 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 631.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 1968160

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.

Safety97#463/15,637
Economy63#5,741/15,631
Housing90#1,544/14,977
Health75#3,947/15,609
Healthcare45#8,615/15,650
Environment90#1,541/15,453
Education74#4,055/15,649
Infrastructure56#6,915/15,650
Community95#797/15,651
Leisure & amenities46#8,437/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Rent-burdened households · low21.5%
100/100Iowa 43.9%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Social associations · high26.0 /10k
99/100Iowa 14.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLyon County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,221 /100k
99/100Iowa 2,368 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLyon County value
Public libraries · high4.8 /10k
99/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesLyon County value
Injury deaths · low43 /100k
99/100Iowa 76 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLyon County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Iowa 9.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionLyon County value

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low16 /100k
1/100Iowa 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLyon County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Iowa 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLyon County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high149 mi
5/100Iowa 60 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauLyon County value
Pharmacies · low0.8 /10k
8/100Iowa 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLyon County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low53.1%
13/100Iowa 80.0%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLyon County value
Primary care physicians · low33 /100k
14/100Iowa 74 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLyon County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
4.2 /1k (2021) → 2.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−38%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.4× (2015-2019) → 3.2× (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
27.7% (2015-2019) → 21.7% (2020-2024)
−5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
19.3% (2015-2019) → 23.3% (2020-2024)
+4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
High school diploma or higherImproving
91.4% (2015-2019) → 94.3% (2020-2024)
+2.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
86.9% (2015-2019) → 89.4% (2020-2024)
+2.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Rock Rapids, Iowa improved on 0 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 12 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Price / income+0.8×2.4× → 3.2×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Rock Rapids, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.2 min2015-2019	12.8 min2020-2024	−0.4 min	Within the margin of error	52%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.7%2015-2019	21.7%2020-2024	−5.9 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Broadband subscriptions	86.9%2015-2019	89.4%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Effective property tax rate	1.48%2015-2019	1.31%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	52%
High school diploma or higher	91.4%2015-2019	94.3%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.8×	Declined	30%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4112015-2019	0.3942020-2024	−0.017	Within the margin of error	65%
Median household income	$58,3872015-2019	$63,9422020-2024	+9.5%	Within the margin of error	16%
Poverty rate	4.6%2015-2019	6.5%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	19.3%2015-2019	23.3%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Rent-burdened households	23.9%2015-2019	21.5%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.1%2015-2019	6.3%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	24%

“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 Rock Rapids, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Rock Rapids, 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, Rock Rapids, Iowa itself moved −7.6 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

2,661 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

975 households (±80)

Rock Rapids, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k16%†157
$25k–50k21%†202
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

975 households (±80)

Rock Rapids, Iowa
Iowa share

Own71%695
Rent29%280

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−14.1 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,188 workers (±124)

Rock Rapids, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone72%856
Carpool6.1%†73
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 Lyon County, the county holding most of Rock Rapids's residents.

Lyon County has 402 employer establishments, 327 for every 10,000 residents (1.32× the US rate of 248; 1.26× Iowa's), with 3,746 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,840. The Census Bureau also counts 1,118 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 402; 1,118 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 327; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 3,746
Average annual pay: $47,840; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	48	39	2.52×More than typical	125	$66,496	137
Truck transportation	39	31.7	6.27×More than typical	110	$62,482	65
Religious organizations	29	23.6	4.25×More than typical	104	$16,942	—
Construction of buildings	19	15.4	2.04×More than typical	41	$51,439	55
Building equipment contractors	18	14.6	2.43×More than typical	82	$45,988	21
Automotive repair and maintenance	17	13.8	2.74×More than typical	48	$38,875	26
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	15	12.2	3.87×More than typical	15	$202,067	23
Restaurants and other eating places	15	12.2	0.66×Fewer than typical	91	$14,044	6
Insurance agencies and brokerages	13	10.6	2.40×More than typical	34	$56,941	22
Ambulatory health care services	11	8.9	0.43×Fewer than typical	67	$44,746	23
Banks and credit unions	11	8.9	2.77×More than typical	112	$60,429	—
Gasoline stations	10	8.1	2.51×More than typical	105	$34,629	—

Rank places for an industry Open Lyon County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 12,309 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 Rock Rapids, Iowa: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
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

376.2FY2025

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 Rock Rapids, Iowa, so they do not add up across cities.

Rock Rapids, Iowa's figures are part of those of Lyon County, IA ($319.4K 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: Rock Rapids is mostly in Lyon County.

See federal money in Lyon 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.

Rock Rapids, 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.

Lyon County98100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Lyon 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/1968160

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends