City · Sioux County, Iowa

Rock Valley, Iowa

Rock Valley is a city in Sioux County, Iowa. It has 4,059 residents. Rock Valley, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 94 out of 100 (very high), ranking #880 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #36 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on social associations (high), preventable hospital stays (low) and mammography screening (high). It ranks worst on distance to an Amtrak station (high), new business applications (low) and uninsured residents (under 65) (high).

94Very high

Quality-of-life score: #880 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #36 of 281 in IA
Population: 4,059 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 910.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 1968205

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety94#926/15,637
Economy67#5,194/15,631
Housing93#1,061/14,977
Health84#2,526/15,609
Healthcare68#5,060/15,650
Environment94#945/15,453
Education64#5,564/15,649
Infrastructure70#4,759/15,650
Community99#223/15,651
Leisure & amenities56#6,855/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Rock Valley, Iowa ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Sioux 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 · high26.8 /10k
100/100Iowa 14.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSioux County value
Preventable hospital stays · low980 /100k
99/100Iowa 2,368 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSioux County value
Mammography screening · high61.0%
99/100Iowa 57.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSioux County value
Food environment index · high9.7
99/100Iowa 8.6United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSioux County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Iowa 9.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSioux County value
Average commute time · low13.4 min
99/100Iowa 19.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Distance to an Amtrak station · high127 mi
7/100Iowa 60 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSioux County value
New business applications · low8.4 /1k
9/100Iowa 10.8 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauSioux County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high22.1%
17/100Iowa 6.4%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Public EV charging ports · low1.9 /10k
19/100Iowa 4.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergySioux County value
Bachelor's degree or higher · low16.6%
24/100Iowa 31.4%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Mental health care shortage · high17.0
24/100Iowa 10.1United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSioux County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
3,812 (2015-2019) → 4,059 (2020-2024)
+6.5%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
1.5 /1k (2021) → 13.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+774%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
7.1% (2015-2019) → 22.1% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
14.8% (2015-2019) → 25.0% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.1× (2015-2019) → 3.0× (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
24.1% (2015-2019) → 16.6% (2020-2024)
−7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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 Valley, Iowa improved on 1 of 9 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 7 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+5.4 points85.1% → 90.6%

Declined1

Price / income+0.9×2.1× → 3.0×

All 9 measures

Change of every measure of Rock Valley, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	11.4 min2015-2019	13.4 min2020-2024	+2.0 min	Within the margin of error	27%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.1%2015-2019	16.6%2020-2024	−7.5 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Broadband subscriptions	85.1%2015-2019	90.6%2020-2024	+5.4 points	Improved	34%
Effective property tax rate	1.58%2015-2019	1.22%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	80%
High school diploma or higher	86.3%2015-2019	82.4%2020-2024	−3.9 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	+0.9×	Declined	24%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4052015-2019	0.4272020-2024	+0.022	Within the margin of error	33%
Median household income	$68,7662015-2019	$76,2502020-2024	+11%	Within the margin of error	18%
Poverty rate	11.2%2015-2019	9.3%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	62%

“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 Valley, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Rock Valley, 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 Valley, Iowa itself moved −13.6 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

4,059 residents (±18)

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

1,452 households (±147)

Rock Valley, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k21%†307
$25k–50k11%†154
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,452 households (±147)

Rock Valley, Iowa
Iowa share

Own51%742
Rent49%710

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−27.1 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,099 workers (±230)

Rock Valley, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone79%1,662
Carpool7.2%†152
Public transit0.9%†19

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 Sioux County, the county holding most of Rock Valley's residents.

Sioux County has 1,345 employer establishments, 369 for every 10,000 residents (1.48× the US rate of 248; 1.42× Iowa's), with 20,910 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,733. The Census Bureau also counts 3,066 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,345; 3,066 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 369; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 20,910
Average annual pay: $51,733; US $68,342

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

Truck transportation	124	34	6.72×More than typical	333	$51,529	146
Specialty trade contractors	123	33.7	2.18×More than typical	1,690	$78,033	248
Religious organizations	80	21.9	3.95×More than typical	503	$26,541	—
Construction of buildings	65	17.8	2.36×More than typical	273	$60,300	108
Restaurants and other eating places	52	14.2	0.78×Fewer than typical	907	$15,553	20
Ambulatory health care services	50	13.7	0.66×Fewer than typical	486	$46,169	74
Automotive repair and maintenance	43	11.8	2.34×More than typical	150	$42,680	56
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	43	11.8	3.74×More than typical	132	$91,811	33
Building equipment contractors	34	9.3	1.55×More than typical	1,404	$76,189	33
Lessors of real estate	32	8.8	0.71×Fewer than typical	80	$35,950	460
Services to buildings and dwellings	31	8.5	1.26×More than typical	258	$38,260	160
Insurance agencies and brokerages	30	8.2	1.87×More than typical	135	$65,593	58

Rank places for an industry Open Sioux County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 36,494 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 -$3,807 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Rock Valley, Iowa: -$0.94 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: -$3,807; −116% vs FY2025
Per resident: -$0.94; 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

MID AMERICAN ENERGY COMPANY$00.0%
NORTH WEST RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE-$6850.0%
CITY OF ROCK VALLEY-$1,5440.0%
K & K COURT, LLC-$1,5780.0%

Spending by fiscal year

589.7FY2019
-26.6FY2020
24KFY2025
-3.8KFY2026

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

Rock Valley, Iowa's figures are part of those of Sioux County, IA ($5.3M 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 Valley is mostly in Sioux County.

See federal money in Sioux 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 Valley, 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.

Sioux County100100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Sioux 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/1968205

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends