City · Madison County, Iowa

Winterset, Iowa

Winterset is a city in Madison County, Iowa, part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area. It has 5,416 residents. Winterset, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 85 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,311 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #100 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), voter turnout (high) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on access to exercise opportunities (low), mental health providers (low) and effective property tax rate (high).

85Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,311 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #100 of 281 in IA
Population: 5,416 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 1,126.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 1986520

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.

Safety85#2,323/15,637
Economy65#5,432/15,631
Housing76#3,546/14,977
Health72#4,342/15,609
Healthcare74#4,110/15,650
Environment91#1,379/15,453
Education40#9,370/15,649
Infrastructure57#6,719/15,650
Community83#2,653/15,651
Leisure & amenities69#4,901/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Drought exposure · low0%
98/100Iowa 13%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAMadison County value
Voter turnout · high80.2%
96/100Iowa 70.3%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionMadison County value
Child care cost burden · low19.6%
95/100Iowa 22.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMadison County value
Property crime rate · low372 /100k
94/100Iowa 1,172 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationMadison County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Iowa 2.6 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMadison County value
Public libraries · high2.3 /10k
93/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesMadison County value

Weaknesses

Access to exercise opportunities · low45.5%
8/100Iowa 80.0%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMadison County value
Mental health providers · low76 /100k
11/100Iowa 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMadison County value
Effective property tax rate · high1.78%
12/100Iowa 1.33%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Public EV charging ports · low1.2 /10k
13/100Iowa 4.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyMadison County value
Reading scores · low2.76
13/100Iowa 3.05United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMadison County value
Average weekly wage · low$1,000
18/100Iowa $1,221United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMadison County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
27.7% (2015-2019) → 46.6% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
1.3% (2015-2019) → 14.7% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.3% (2015-2019) → 88.9% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
3.8 /1k (2021) → 1.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−56%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
High school diploma or higherImproving
92.6% (2015-2019) → 98.6% (2020-2024)
+5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
23.3% (2015-2019) → 29.0% (2020-2024)
+5.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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, Winterset, Iowa improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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+13 points76.3% → 88.9%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Winterset, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.8 min2015-2019	23.9 min2020-2024	−1.9 min	Within the margin of error	70%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.6%2015-2019	22.0%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Broadband subscriptions	76.3%2015-2019	88.9%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	71%
Effective property tax rate	1.79%2015-2019	1.78%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	18%
High school diploma or higher	92.6%2015-2019	98.6%2020-2024	+5.9 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Home price to income ratio	3.0×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	−0.2×	Within the margin of error	85%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4062015-2019	0.3712020-2024	−0.035	Within the margin of error	77%
Median household income	$52,8352015-2019	$67,7082020-2024	+28%	Within the margin of error	51%
Poverty rate	6.3%2015-2019	10.3%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Rent as share of income	23.3%2015-2019	29.0%2020-2024	+5.7 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Rent-burdened households	27.7%2015-2019	46.6%2020-2024	+19 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.1%2015-2019	3.0%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	70%

“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 Winterset, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Winterset, 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, Winterset, Iowa itself moved −0.5 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

5,416 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

2,389 households (±183)

Winterset, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k11%†252
$25k–50k27%†641
$50k–75k18%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,389 households (±183)

Winterset, Iowa
Iowa share

Own65%1,546
Rent35%843

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,637 workers (±229)

Winterset, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone77%2,021
Carpool5.2%†137
Public transit0.0%0

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 Des Moines-West Des Moines, 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 Madison County, the county holding most of Winterset's residents.

Madison County has 435 employer establishments, 256 for every 10,000 residents (1.03× the US rate of 248; 0.99× Iowa's), with 2,850 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,621. The Census Bureau also counts 1,489 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 435; 1,489 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 256; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 2,850
Average annual pay: $42,621; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	57	33.5	2.16×More than typical	209	$52,335	177
Construction of buildings	24	14.1	1.87×More than typical	74	$62,014	109
Building equipment contractors	20	11.8	1.95×More than typical	80	$46,963	17
Lessors of real estate	20	11.8	0.95×About typical	35	$52,943	152
Ambulatory health care services	19	11.2	0.54×Fewer than typical	79	$45,139	32
Restaurants and other eating places	19	11.2	0.61×Fewer than typical	230	$16,704	3
Services to buildings and dwellings	16	9.4	1.39×More than typical	57	$46,667	77
Automotive repair and maintenance	15	8.8	1.75×More than typical	50	$44,980	29
Religious organizations	15	8.8	1.59×More than typical	48	$16,896	—
Building finishing contractors	14	8.2	2.16×More than typical	54	$51,889	55
Electrical contractors and wiring installation	14	8.2	3.32×More than typical	59	$50,390	7
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	12	7.1	2.24×More than typical	58	$57,983	24

Rank places for an industry Open Madison County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 17,017 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 $4,755 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Winterset, Iowa: $0.88 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $4,755
Per resident: $0.88; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

National Institute of Standards and Technology$4,755100%

Top recipients

SCHWARZ FORENSIC ENTERPRISES, INC$4,755100%

Spending by fiscal year

1.3KFY2017
356.6FY2018
278.1FY2019
-26FY2021
6KFY2023
3.6KFY2024
0FY2025
4.8KFY2026

Top industries (NAICS)

Other professional, scientific, and technical services · 5419$4,755100%

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

Winterset, Iowa's figures are part of those of Madison County, IA ($200K in FY2026), never added to them: 2.4% of that total.

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

See federal money in Madison 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.

Winterset, Iowa is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Zachary NunnR-IA-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 95%Missed 4.6%

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.

Madison County98100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA98

Other cities and towns in Madison 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/1986520

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends