City safety & data profile

Iowa CityIA

Iowa City, IA is a 74K-resident city in Johnson County with a median household income of $58,546.

Johnson County, Iowa. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Iowa City, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Iowa City has a population larger than 88% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $285,900, and 3 hospitals serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-04

74K
Population (place)
Top 12%
By size
$58,546
Median income (place)
$285,900
Median home (place)
26.3%
Poverty rate (place)
My saved cities

The read on Iowa City

Iowa City posts a median household income higher than 20% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 3 hospitals serve the Iowa City area.

Bottom 21%
by median income, US cities
3
hospitals in & near Iowa City

Where Iowa City income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$58,546 Bottom 20% higher than 20% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Iowa City $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Largest cities in IA

Population among 40 IA places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows Des Moines is the largest IA city on this list; Clive leads median income.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Highest median incomes in IA

Median household income among the same 40-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.

median

What this shows Clive posts the highest place-level median income in IA; Des Moines is largest by headcount.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Iowa City, IA beyond the headline numbers

Iowa City sits inside Johnson County, Iowa, at roughly 41.66°N, -91.53°W. Population 74,220, $58,546 median household income. Median home value $285,900, median rent $1,094. Poverty rate 26.3%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

3 hospitals in/around Iowa City, 3.7/5 avg rating, 3 with an ER.

26.3% of Iowa City, IA residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

A median home in Iowa City runs about 4.9 times median household income, above the midpoint. Multiples in this range usually mean buyers are arriving from outside the local wage base.

Remote work covers 12.2% of Iowa City workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.

Among the CDC measures on this page, binge drinking departs furthest from its peer median: 22.7% in Iowa City, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

6% of Iowa City workers commute by public transit, a larger share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

Iowa City's median age is 26.2 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Iowa City from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

Population (place)
74,220
Iowa City · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$58,546
-35% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$285,900
-31% vs avg
Median Age (place)
26.2
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Johnson County): Iowa City's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
157K+17%
Median Income
$74,935+40%
Median Home Value
$308,600+66%
Poverty Rate
17.1%-3%
Unemployment
3.8%-12%

Economics

Economics indicators for Iowa City, IA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,094/mo
Poverty Rate
26.3% +112% vs avg
Unemployment 4.6%
Bachelor's Degree+ 60.5%
Work From Home 12.2%
Public Transit 6%

Population

White 72.6%
African American 9.5%
Asian 7.1%
Two or More Ethnicities 2.7%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

Short Sleep Duration
31.5%
Obesity
31.3%
High Blood Pressure
26.1%
Binge Drinking
22.7%
Physical Inactivity
20%
Frequent Mental Distress
19.1%
Current Smoking
11.9%
Frequent Physical Distress
10.5%
Current Asthma
10.3%
Diabetes
7.9%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 63.7%
Annual Checkup 75%

Other Measures

Lack of Health Insurance
7.7%
Coronary Heart Disease
4.2%
Stroke
2.2%

Hospitals 3 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
1
★★★★
1
★★★
0
★★
1
★
0
Average Rating
3.7/5
Total Hospitals
3
With ER
3
IOWA CITY VA MEDICAL CENTER
IOWA CITY · Acute Care - Veterans Administration · ER
★★★★★
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HEALTH CARE MEDICAL CENTER DOWN
IOWA CITY · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★★☆
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HOSPITAL & CLINICS
IOWA CITY · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★☆☆☆

What alerts and safety updates affect Iowa City?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Iowa City right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet IA-IOWA-CITY · Iowa City

Iowa City: no area-tagged alerts on record — state hubs carry the live CAP stream.

  • FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
  • LEAD-NONE Feed idle
  • DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed

Counts reflect published articles tagged to Iowa City; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Iowa state hubs · Methodology

Read with this city profile

Tracking Safety Alerts in Your Area

How Areazine tags Iowa City in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of Iowa City, IA? ▼
Iowa City, IA has a population of 74,220 people, located in Johnson County, Iowa.
What is the median household income in Iowa City? ▼
The median household income in Iowa City, IA is $58,546 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 26.3%.
What is the median home value in Iowa City? ▼
The median home value in Iowa City, IA is $285,900. Median rent is $1,094/month.
What are the top health concerns in Iowa City? ▼
The top health indicators in Iowa City include Short Sleep Duration (31.5%), Obesity (31.3%), High Blood Pressure (26.1%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Iowa City? ▼
Iowa City has 3 hospitals with an average rating of 3.7/5 stars. 3 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Iowa City? ▼
The median age in Iowa City, IA is 26.2 years. 60.5% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Iowa City, both outside Iowa so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside IA (26.3% here).

Hartford, CT 26.3% Salisbury, NC 26.3% East Chicago, IN 26.3% Charleston, IL 26.3%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside IA ($58,546 here).

New Philadelphia, OH $58,547 Cleveland, TN $58,559 Radcliff, KY $58,559 Salisbury, MD $58,576

Compare Iowa City with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Nearby Cities 8

Coralville, IA 21K North Liberty, IA 16K Cedar Rapids, IA 130K Marion, IA 37K Muscatine, IA 24K Burlington, IA 25K Davenport, IA 103K Rock Island, IL 39K
All cities in Iowa → Compare Iowa City vs Coralville → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using Iowa City's profile

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Iowa City area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare Iowa City against Iowa peers on any ranking lens. Explore Iowa

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Johnson County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.