City · Benton County, Iowa

Vinton, Iowa

Vinton is a city in Benton County, Iowa, part of the Cedar Rapids, IA metro area. It has 4,948 residents. Vinton, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 74 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,119 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #187 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), public libraries (high) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on public EV charging ports (low), gyms and fitness centers (low) and primary care physicians (low).

74High

Quality-of-life score: #4,119 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #187 of 281 in IA
Population: 4,948 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 1,013.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 1981210

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.

Safety85#2,276/15,637
Economy48#8,175/15,631
Housing83#2,596/14,977
Health64#5,675/15,609
Healthcare54#7,189/15,650
Environment55#7,024/15,453
Education85#2,386/15,649
Infrastructure51#7,672/15,650
Community85#2,350/15,651
Leisure & amenities15#13,262/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Vinton, Iowa ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Benton 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 · low79 min
99/100Iowa 128 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBenton County value
Public libraries · high4.3 /10k
98/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesBenton County value
Child care cost burden · low18.5%
97/100Iowa 22.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Property crime rate · low311 /100k
96/100Iowa 1,172 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationBenton County value
Mammography screening · high57.0%
96/100Iowa 57.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Iowa 2.6 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBenton County value

Weaknesses

Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Iowa 4.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyBenton County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Iowa 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBenton County value
Primary care physicians · low19 /100k
4/100Iowa 74 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Dentists · low23 /100k
6/100Iowa 73 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Mental health providers · low58 /100k
7/100Iowa 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low44.3%
7/100Iowa 80.0%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
31.2% (2015-2019) → 49.3% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.8% (2015-2019) → 87.3% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$48,068 (2015-2019) → $66,495 (2020-2024)
+38%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Child poverty rateImproving
12.0% (2015-2019) → 6.2% (2020-2024)
−5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioImproving
2.9× (2015-2019) → 2.3× (2020-2024)
−20%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
New homes permittedWorsening
2.0 /1k (2021) → 1.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−20%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k

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, Vinton, Iowa improved on 2 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 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.

Improved2

Broadband+14 points73.8% → 87.3%
Household income+38%$48,068 → $66,495

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Vinton, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.7 min2015-2019	21.1 min2020-2024	+1.4 min	Within the margin of error	33%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.8%2015-2019	28.6%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Broadband subscriptions	73.8%2015-2019	87.3%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	75%
Effective property tax rate	1.56%2015-2019	1.78%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	3%
High school diploma or higher	92.2%2015-2019	91.9%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	−0.6×	Within the margin of error	94%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4402015-2019	0.4792020-2024	+0.038	Within the margin of error	22%
Median household income	$48,0682015-2019	$66,4952020-2024	+38%	Improved	71%
Poverty rate	14.2%2015-2019	12.6%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Rent-burdened households	31.2%2015-2019	49.3%2020-2024	+18 points	Within the margin of error	11%

“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 Vinton, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Vinton, 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, Vinton, Iowa itself moved −5.6 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

4,948 residents (±16)

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

2,292 households (±197)

Vinton, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k24%†558
$25k–50k18%†412
$50k–75k19%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,292 households (±197)

Vinton, Iowa
Iowa share

Own80%1,831
Rent20%†461

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,322 workers (±192)

Vinton, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone73%1,685
Carpool14%†336
Public transit0.2%†5

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Cedar Rapids, IA

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 Benton County, the county holding most of Vinton's residents.

Benton County has 535 employer establishments, 208 for every 10,000 residents (0.84× the US rate of 248; 0.80× Iowa's), with 4,296 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,044. The Census Bureau also counts 1,848 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 535; 1,848 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 208; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 4,296
Average annual pay: $47,044; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	55	21.3	1.38×More than typical	251	$55,817	177
Truck transportation	33	12.8	2.53×More than typical	124	$48,468	66
Ambulatory health care services	29	11.3	0.54×Fewer than typical	199	$50,392	50
Religious organizations	28	10.9	1.96×More than typical	89	$14,528	—
Restaurants and other eating places	26	10.1	0.55×Fewer than typical	259	$14,548	5
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	18	7	2.22×More than typical	56	$56,661	38
Automotive repair and maintenance	17	6.6	1.31×More than typical	45	$35,978	37
Gasoline stations	17	6.6	2.03×More than typical	178	$26,034	3
Building finishing contractors	15	5.8	1.53×More than typical	68	$42,765	58
Insurance agencies and brokerages	15	5.8	1.33×More than typical	37	$63,730	43
Full-service restaurants	14	5.4	0.71×Fewer than typical	138	$13,420	4
Banks and credit unions	13	5	1.56×More than typical	86	$68,988	—

Rank places for an industry Open Benton County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 25,773 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 $974 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Vinton, Iowa: $0.20 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $974; −98% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.20; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 100%; 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

Corporation for National and Community Service$1,043100%

Top recipients

MAHER BROS. TRANSFER AND STORAGE, INC.$1,043100%
CITY OF VINTON-$68.620.0%

Spending by fiscal year

37.7KFY2017
26.2KFY2018
40KFY2019
31.6KFY2020
42.9KFY2021
48.1KFY2022
69.6KFY2023
60.7KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Specialized freight trucking · 4842$1,043100%

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

Vinton, Iowa's figures are part of those of Benton County, IA ($29.8K in FY2026), never added to them: 3.3% of that total.

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

See federal money in Benton 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.

Vinton, 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.

Benton County89100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Cedar Rapids, IA95

Other cities and towns in Benton 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/1981210

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends