City · Fayette County, Iowa

West Union, Iowa

West Union is a city in Fayette County, Iowa. It has 2,489 residents. West Union, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 71 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,597 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #201 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on public libraries (high), preventable hospital stays (low) and drug overdose deaths (low). It ranks worst on gyms and fitness centers (low), new business applications (low) and broadband subscriptions (low).

71High

Quality-of-life score: #4,597 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #201 of 281 in IA
Population: 2,489 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 906.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 1984765

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.

Safety80#3,139/15,637
Economy38#9,698/15,631
Housing81#2,782/14,977
Health51#7,596/15,609
Healthcare44#8,756/15,650
Environment84#2,422/15,453
Education66#5,306/15,649
Infrastructure21#12,353/15,650
Community84#2,537/15,651
Leisure & amenities70#4,619/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Public libraries · high5.8 /10k
99/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesFayette County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,186 /100k
99/100Iowa 2,368 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette 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 dataFayette County value
Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100Iowa 3.2United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesFayette County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low96 min
97/100Iowa 128 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesFayette County value
Mammography screening · high58.0%
97/100Iowa 57.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value

Weaknesses

Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Iowa 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFayette County value
New business applications · low7.6 /1k
5/100Iowa 10.8 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauFayette County value
Broadband subscriptions · low82.4%
7/100Iowa 88.8%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Mental health providers · low84 /100k
12/100Iowa 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value
Primary care physicians · low31 /100k
13/100Iowa 74 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value
New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Iowa 4.1 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
71.5% (2015-2019) → 82.4% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
45.3% (2015-2019) → 37.9% (2020-2024)
−7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
4.8% (2015-2019) → 9.9% (2020-2024)
+5.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Average commute timeWorsening
14.9 min (2015-2019) → 18.5 min (2020-2024)
+24%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Poverty rateImproving
15.9% (2015-2019) → 11.6% (2020-2024)
−4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Unemployment rateImproving
5.6% (2015-2019) → 1.4% (2020-2024)
−4.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, West Union, Iowa improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 13 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+11 points71.5% → 82.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of West Union, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.9 min2015-2019	18.5 min2020-2024	+3.6 min	Within the margin of error	16%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.8%2015-2019	23.6%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Broadband subscriptions	71.5%2015-2019	82.4%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	64%
Child poverty rate	28.1%2015-2019	24.4%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Effective property tax rate	1.22%2015-2019	1.40%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	3%
High school diploma or higher	90.9%2015-2019	91.2%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	69%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4512015-2019	0.4232020-2024	−0.027	Within the margin of error	72%
Median household income	$48,2502015-2019	$53,6172020-2024	+11%	Within the margin of error	18%
Poverty rate	15.9%2015-2019	11.6%2020-2024	−4.3 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	27.0%2015-2019	25.1%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Rent-burdened households	45.3%2015-2019	37.9%2020-2024	−7.4 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.8%2015-2019	9.9%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	10%

“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 West Union, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of West Union, 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, West Union, Iowa itself moved −0.6 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

2,489 residents (±282)

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

1,106 households (±136)

West Union, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k23%†249
$25k–50k25%271
$50k–75k22%†242

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,106 households (±136)

West Union, Iowa
Iowa share

Own62%688
Rent38%418

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−5.6 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,100 workers (±175)

West Union, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone86%945
Carpool3.8%†42
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 Fayette County, the county holding most of West Union's residents.

Fayette County has 524 employer establishments, 272 for every 10,000 residents (1.10× the US rate of 248; 1.05× Iowa's), with 5,706 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,389. The Census Bureau also counts 1,346 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 524; 1,346 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 272; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 5,706
Average annual pay: $45,389; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	37	19.2	1.24×About typical	272	$55,147	125
Truck transportation	32	16.6	3.29×More than typical	105	$56,143	78
Restaurants and other eating places	29	15.1	0.82×About typical	301	$14,113	5
Religious organizations	25	13	2.34×More than typical	77	$13,273	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	23	12	2.72×More than typical	51	$40,902	26
Ambulatory health care services	22	11.4	0.55×Fewer than typical	149	$55,054	38
Gasoline stations	16	8.3	2.57×More than typical	218	$33,633	—
Full-service restaurants	15	7.8	1.02×About typical	128	$9,586	4
Building equipment contractors	13	6.8	1.12×About typical	182	$47,203	18
Automotive repair and maintenance	12	6.2	1.24×About typical	60	$52,050	37
Banks and credit unions	12	6.2	1.93×More than typical	93	$51,774	—
Offices of other health practitioners	12	6.2	1.03×About typical	65	$49,323	15

Rank places for an industry Open Fayette County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 19,233 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Fayette 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.

West Union, 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.

Fayette County84100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Fayette 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/1984765

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends