Polk County, IA
A county, and one of the 3,222 county-level areas the Census Bureau reports for the United States.
Population497,441
Density335.0people per km² of land
Median household income$81,621
Land area1483km²
Its peers
These are the 50 areas most like Polk County in population density and median household income (the middle household income). Both are measured in percentage terms and put on the same scale, so neither one counts for more. The closest eight: Butler County, OH, Sarasota County, FL, Henry County, GA, Palm Beach County, FL, Kent County, MI, Douglas County, GA, Kenton County, KY, Bristol County, MA. The peer scores below compare this county with all 50.
Least like its peers
The measures where Polk Countyis furthest from the average of its peers. The gap is shown in “sd” (standard deviations), which means typical gaps between peers: −2 sd is about two typical gaps below the peer average. A national ranking would hide these numbers behind the county’s income.
| Measure | Value | Among peers | Nationally | vs peers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drinking | 21.3% | 0th pct | 11th pct | +2.3 sd |
| Cholesterol screening | 83.1% | 0th pct | 54th pct | -2.2 sd |
| Flu vaccination among Medicare enrollees | 0.63% | 100th pct | 100th pct | +2.1 sd |
| Preventable hospital stays | 1,916 | 98th pct | 82nd pct | -1.6 sd |
| Mean travel time to work | 19.9 min | 96th pct | 80th pct | -1.5 sd |
| Independent-living disability | 6.7% | 93rd pct | 92nd pct | -1.4 sd |
How it has changed
This chart covers 2010–2024. A few measures were published only once — the school, moving-up-the-income-ladder (mobility) and social-ties (social capital) ones. They show as a single point that says so. Everything else is drawn over the years its publisher covers. Each value sits at the year it describes, not the year it came out.
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Every measure
Rates and medians come first, then counts. Counts have no peer score. A county’s population cannot be high or low “for its peers” when the peers were picked partly by density. Density and median household income have no peer score either, since they are what the peers were picked by.
| Adult income rank of children raised poor here | 0.427 | 78 | 55 | +0.9 | Opportunity Atlas |
| Adults under 65 without health insurance | 7.6% | 71 | 88 | -0.8 | CDC PLACES |
| Aggregate travel time to work | 4,462,400 min | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Alcohol-involved share of driving deaths | 0.287% | 41 | 51 | +0.2 | County Health Rankings |
| All natural teeth lost, age 65 and over | 11.9% | 42 | 74 | -0.0 | CDC PLACES |
| Any disability | 25.9% | 79 | 91 | -0.9 | CDC PLACES |
| Arrivals per 100 people staying | 5.03 | 30· | 31· | -0.7 | IRS county migration flows |
| Arthritis | 24% | 26 | 55 | +0.5 | CDC PLACES |
| Average test score | 0.0711 | 49 | 64 | +0.0 | Stanford Education Data Archive |
| Binge drinking | 21.3% | 0 | 11 | +2.3 | CDC PLACES |
| Births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 50 | 48.8 | 38· | 31· | -0.3 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Black Protestant adherents | 1.34 | 58· | 68· | -0.1 | |
| Black-white residential segregation | 48.5 | 30· | 46· | -0.2 | County Health Rankings |
| Business closing rate | 9.34 | 72· | 68· | +0.5 | Census Business Dynamics Statistics |
| Business establishments | 12,441 | — | — | — | Census Business Dynamics Statistics |
| Business establishments closed | 1,155 | — | — | — | Census Business Dynamics Statistics |
| Business establishments opened | 1,292 | — | — | — | Census Business Dynamics Statistics |
| Business opening rate | 10.4 | 56· | 68· | +0.1 | Census Business Dynamics Statistics |
| Cancer other than skin cancer | 7% | 55 | 60 | +0.0 | CDC PLACES |
| Catholic adherents | 13.5 | 40· | 67· | -0.5 | |
| Child mortality | 53.7 | 20 | 61 | +0.6 | County Health Rankings |
| Child poverty rate, ages 0-17 | 15.3% | 34 | 63 | +0.4 | Census SAIPE |
| Children in single-parent households | 0.235% | 44· | 53· | -0.1 | County Health Rankings |
| Children in the mobility cohort | 31,711 | — | — | — | Opportunity Atlas |
| Children with below-median parental income | 31,711 | — | — | — | Social Capital Atlas |
| Cholesterol screening | 83.1% | 0 | 54 | -2.2 | CDC PLACES |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 5.5% | 50 | 82 | -0.3 | CDC PLACES |
| Cognitive disability | 13.5% | 69 | 86 | -0.5 | CDC PLACES |
| Colorectal cancer screening | 61.8% | 46 | 84 | -0.1 | CDC PLACES |
| Congregations per 10,000 people | 8.79 | 64· | 11· | +0.1 | |
| Coronary heart disease | 5.2% | 45 | 82 | -0.1 | CDC PLACES |
| Current asthma | 9.8% | 71 | 85 | -0.9 | CDC PLACES |
| Current cigarette smoking | 13.3% | 38 | 82 | +0.2 | CDC PLACES |
| Dental visit in the past year | 64% | 50 | 77 | +0.0 | CDC PLACES |
| Departures per 100 people staying | 5.06 | 32· | 31· | -0.5 | IRS county migration flows |
| Depression | 21.7% | 60 | 74 | -0.2 | CDC PLACES |
| Diagnosed diabetes | 9.6% | 64 | 72 | -0.5 | CDC PLACES |
| Disability-free score | 1 | 83· | 91· | +0.9 | |
| Drug overdose deaths | 26.1 | 74 | 60 | -0.7 | County Health Rankings |
| Economic connectedness | 0.865 | 66 | 63 | +0.4 | Social Capital Atlas |
| Economic connectedness in high school | 1.05 | 58 | 85 | +0.3 | Social Capital Atlas |
| Economy score | 1.67 | 64· | 87· | +0.2 | |
| Education score | 0.171 | 47· | 55· | -0.1 | |
| Effective property tax rate | 1.76 | 84· | 94· | +0.9 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Employed | 271,840 | — | — | — | BLS LAUS |
| Evangelical Protestant adherents | 10.9 | 38· | 25· | -0.6 | |
| Fair or poor self-rated health | 17% | 48 | 76 | -0.2 | CDC PLACES |
| Fine particulate matter | 8 | 57 | 39 | -0.3 | County Health Rankings |
| Firearm fatalities | 9.8 | 62 | 85 | -0.4 | County Health Rankings |
| Firearm share of suicides, standardised | 79.3 | 26· | 8· | -0.7 | CDC WONDER mortality; RAND firearm ownership database |
| Firearm suicide rate | 6.69 | 42· | 12· | -0.3 | CDC WONDER mortality; RAND firearm ownership database |
| Flu vaccination among Medicare enrollees | 0.63% | 100 | 100 | +2.1 | County Health Rankings |
| Food insecurity | 12.7% | 79 | 77 | -0.8 | CDC PLACES |
| Foreign-born population | 49,496 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Frequent mental distress | 17.4% | 33 | 73 | +0.2 | CDC PLACES |
| Frequent physical distress | 12.2% | 57 | 78 | -0.1 | CDC PLACES |
| Friending bias | 0.0728 | 74 | 43 | -0.8 | Social Capital Atlas |
| Friending clustering | 0.0998 | 92· | 20· | +1.1 | Social Capital Atlas |
| Gini index of income inequality | 0.437 | 66 | 60 | -0.3 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Gross domestic product | $59,554,000k | — | — | — | BEA Regional Accounts |
| Health score | 0.66 | 74· | 88· | +0.7 | |
| Hearing disability | 5.9% | 33 | 86 | +0.4 | CDC PLACES |
| High blood pressure | 30.1% | 64 | 75 | -0.6 | CDC PLACES |
| High cholesterol | 31.6% | 55 | 58 | -0.2 | CDC PLACES |
| High school graduation | 0.871% | 32 | 35 | -0.3 | County Health Rankings |
| Homeownership rate | 67.1% | 38· | 20· | -0.2 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Homicide rate | 4.06 | 60 | 74 | -0.3 | County Health Rankings |
| Homicide rate, annual | 3.17 | 15· | 9· | -1.1 | CDC WONDER mortality |
| Housing insecurity | 10.7% | 79 | 77 | -0.9 | CDC PLACES |
| Housing units | 215,020 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Incarceration of children raised poor here | 0.0317 | 44 | 25 | +0.3 | Opportunity Atlas |
| Incarceration rate | 1,019 | 64· | 51· | +0.3 | |
| Income gap between arrivals and departures | $-3,485 | 40· | 22· | -0.4 | IRS county migration flows |
| Independent-living disability | 6.7% | 93 | 92 | -1.4 | CDC PLACES |
| Infant mortality | 5.7 | 47 | 62 | +0.0 | County Health Rankings |
| Injury deaths | 76.9 | 66 | 79 | -0.5 | County Health Rankings |
| Jail admission rate | 1,385 | 20· | 25· | -0.8 | |
| Jail population rate | 318 | 48· | 34· | -0.3 | |
| Labour force | 279,920 | — | — | — | BLS LAUS |
| Lack of reliable transportation | 7.1% | 79 | 82 | -0.9 | CDC PLACES |
| Lacking social and emotional support | 24% | 41 | 47 | +0.2 | CDC PLACES |
| Life expectancy | 77.2 years | 47 | 72 | -0.1 | County Health Rankings |
| Local income tax as a share of income | 0.0104 | — | 18· | — | Census local government finances |
| Local income tax collected | $3,327k | — | — | — | Census local government finances |
| Loneliness | 34% | 50 | 49 | -0.0 | CDC PLACES |
| Mainline Protestant adherents | 9.4 | 88· | 69· | +1.2 | |
| Mammography in the past two years | 77.5% | 50 | 84 | -0.0 | CDC PLACES |
| Material security score | 0.652 | 70· | 74· | +0.5 | |
| Mean adjusted gross income per return | $91,879 | 68 | 88 | +0.1 | IRS Statistics of Income |
| Mean income of arriving households | $65,403 | 36· | 74· | -0.3 | IRS county migration flows |
| Mean income of departing households | $68,888 | 56· | 84· | -0.1 | IRS county migration flows |
| Mean travel time to work | 19.9 min | 96 | 80 | -1.5 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Median age | 36.2 years | 14· | 12· | -0.8 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Median gross rent | $1,113 | 18· | 81· | -0.9 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Median home value | $248,400 | 30· | 76· | -0.7 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Median household income | $81,621 | — | 86 | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Median household income (model-based) | $79,509 | 36 | 84 | -0.2 | Census SAIPE |
| Median property tax bill | 4,364 | 74· | 94· | +0.7 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Membership of volunteering groups | 0.0885% | 86 | 70 | +1.3 | Social Capital Atlas |
| Membership organisations | 12.1 | 92 | 61 | +1.4 | County Health Rankings |
| Mobility disability | 10.4% | 79 | 88 | -1.0 | CDC PLACES |
| Mobility score | -0.267 | 68· | 41· | +0.2 | |
| Motor vehicle crash deaths | 7.91 | 74 | 93 | -0.8 | County Health Rankings |
| Mutual-friend share | 0.984 | 60· | 20· | +0.6 | Social Capital Atlas |
| Net business formation rate | 1.11 | 42· | 54· | -0.3 | Census Business Dynamics Statistics |
| Net migration per 100 people staying | -0.0253 | 32· | 39· | -0.5 | IRS county migration flows |
| No leisure-time physical activity | 23.5% | 57 | 74 | -0.1 | CDC PLACES |
| Obesity | 36.9% | 29 | 61 | +0.6 | CDC PLACES |
| Occupied housing units | 202,400 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Orthodox Christian adherents | 0.13 | 40· | 88· | -0.5 | |
| Other religion adherents | 3.48 | 62· | 76· | -0.1 | |
| Owner-occupied housing units | 135,760 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| People covered by a tax return | 451,450 | — | — | — | IRS Statistics of Income |
| People per tax return | 2 | 66· | 34· | +0.5 | IRS Statistics of Income |
| People who did not move | 399,950 | — | — | — | IRS county migration flows |
| Per capita income | $44,008 | 64 | 88 | +0.3 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Per capita personal income | $67,094 | 72 | 81 | +0.1 | BEA Regional Accounts |
| Personal income | $34,050,000k | — | — | — | BEA Regional Accounts |
| Population | 507,490 | — | — | — | BEA Regional Accounts |
| Population | 505,260 | — | — | — | County Health Rankings |
| Population (firearm measures) | 455,240 | — | — | — | CDC WONDER mortality; RAND firearm ownership database |
| Population (WONDER) | 505,260 | — | — | — | CDC WONDER mortality |
| Population aged 15 and over | 395,760 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Population aged 18 and over | 383,730 | — | — | — | CDC PLACES |
| Population aged 25 and over | 331,590 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Population aged 65 and over | 68,026 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Population below the poverty line | 49,165 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Population below the poverty line | 57,161 | — | — | — | Census SAIPE |
| Population for whom poverty status is determined | 488,660 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Population for whom poverty status is determined | 497,050 | — | — | — | Census SAIPE |
| Population in the same house one year ago | 420,590 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Population with a bachelor's degree or higher | 131,130 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Population, decennial census | 492,400 | — | — | — | |
| Poverty rate | 10.1% | 64 | 76 | -0.3 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Poverty rate (model-based) | 11.5% | 32 | 66 | +0.4 | Census SAIPE |
| Premature mortality | 389 | 49 | 74 | -0.0 | County Health Rankings |
| Presidential votes cast, 2000 | 174,170 | — | — | — | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Presidential votes cast, 2004 | 202,620 | — | — | — | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Presidential votes cast, 2008 | 214,390 | — | — | — | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Presidential votes cast, 2012 | 228,880 | — | — | — | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Presidential votes cast, 2016 | 231,560 | — | — | — | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Presidential votes cast, 2020 | 258,760 | — | — | — | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Presidential votes cast, 2024 | 258,070 | — | — | — | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Pretrial share of the jail population | 84.8% | 93· | 81· | +1.4 | |
| Preventable hospital stays | 1,916 | 98 | 82 | -1.6 | County Health Rankings |
| Prison population rate | 721 | 82· | 62· | +0.7 | |
| Private job growth | 2.57 | 60· | 63· | +0.1 | BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages |
| Private jobs | 276,010 | — | — | — | BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages |
| Public-good pages per 1,000 users | 0.0175 | 92 | 48 | +1.0 | Social Capital Atlas |
| Received food stamps | 10.3% | 32· | 31· | -0.5 | CDC PLACES |
| Religious adherents | 38.7 | 22· | 29· | -0.8 | |
| Republican share of the two-party vote, 2000 | 47.1 | 26· | 15· | -0.6 | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Republican share of the two-party vote, 2004 | 47.7 | 26· | 14· | -0.7 | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Republican share of the two-party vote, 2008 | 42.6 | 28· | 14· | -0.7 | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Republican share of the two-party vote, 2012 | 42.8 | 26· | 13· | -0.8 | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Republican share of the two-party vote, 2016 | 43.8 | 22· | 10· | -0.8 | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Republican share of the two-party vote, 2020 | 42.4 | 26· | 10· | -0.7 | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Republican share of the two-party vote, 2024 | 44.5 | 24· | 10· | -0.7 | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Republican swing, 2000 to 2024 | -2.63 | 38· | 15· | -0.1 | MIT Election Data and Science Lab |
| Returns claiming charitable contributions | 5.62% | 52· | 80· | -0.3 | IRS Statistics of Income |
| Returns claiming the earned income credit | 11.9% | 30· | 26· | -0.5 | IRS Statistics of Income |
| Returns reporting capital gains | 18.9% | 62· | 69· | +0.2 | IRS Statistics of Income |
| Returns reporting unemployment compensation | 2.94% | 70· | 74· | +0.2 | IRS Statistics of Income |
| Routine checkup in the past year | 74.8% | 10· | 43· | -1.1 | CDC PLACES |
| Safety score | 0.612 | 82· | 86· | +1.0 | |
| Self-care disability | 2.9% | 81 | 87 | -1.0 | CDC PLACES |
| Share aged 65 and over | 13.7% | 16· | 8· | -0.8 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share American Indian or Alaska Native, not Hispanic uncertain | 0.0804% | 41· | 31· | -0.4 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share Asian, not Hispanic | 4.9% | 84· | 91· | +0.5 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share Black, not Hispanic | 7.38% | 48· | 62· | -0.4 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share divorced | 11.1% | 54· | 38· | +0.1 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share foreign-born | 9.95% | 58· | 85· | -0.0 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share Hispanic or Latino, any race | 10% | 40· | 69· | -0.4 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share in the same house a year ago | 84.6% | 16· | 17· | -0.8 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share never married | 33.8% | 60· | 77· | +0.2 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share now married | 50.3% | 50· | 37· | -0.0 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share of births to unmarried women | 23.1% | 30· | 23· | -0.8 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share of some other race, not Hispanic uncertain | 0.207% | 0· | 55· | -1.1 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share of suicides by firearm | 41.9% | 22· | 7· | -0.7 | CDC WONDER mortality; RAND firearm ownership database |
| Share of two or more races, not Hispanic | 3.31% | 24· | 51· | -0.7 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share separated | 1.44% | 42· | 36· | -0.2 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share White, not Hispanic | 74.1% | 66· | 39· | +0.5 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share widowed | 4.84% | 26· | 11· | -0.7 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | 39.5% | 72 | 92 | +0.6 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Sleeping less than 7 hours | 35.3% | 78 | 68 | -0.6 | CDC PLACES |
| Social connection score | 0.209 | 80· | 63· | +0.9 | |
| Stroke | 2.7% | 76 | 84 | -0.8 | CDC PLACES |
| Suicide rate | 16.2 | 13 | 62 | +0.9 | County Health Rankings |
| Taking blood pressure medication | 59.3% | 67· | 67· | +0.3 | CDC PLACES |
| Tax returns filed | 242,660 | — | — | — | IRS Statistics of Income |
| Tests taken | 719,130 | — | — | — | Stanford Education Data Archive |
| Threat of utility shut-off | 7% | 82 | 79 | -0.9 | CDC PLACES |
| Total population | 497,440 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Trend in average test score uncertain | 0.00257 | 57 | 52 | +0.2 | Stanford Education Data Archive |
| Unemployed | 8,076 | — | — | — | BLS LAUS |
| Unemployment rate | 2.9% | 72 | 72 | -0.6 | BLS LAUS |
| Vacancy rate | 5.87% | 36· | 8· | -0.5 | Census ACS 5-year |
| Vacant housing units | 12,612 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Vision disability | 3.8% | 88 | 89 | -1.2 | CDC PLACES |
| Women aged 15 to 50 | 121,690 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Women who gave birth in the past year | 5,938 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Workers aged 16 and over who commute | 223,890 | — | — | — | Census ACS 5-year |
| Years of potential life lost | 7,653 | 60 | 77 | -0.3 | County Health Rankings |
3of these values are marked uncertain. Either the published margin of error (the likely range around a survey estimate) is wide compared with the estimate, or the value was split across Connecticut’s 2022 boundary change. A split value is shared out between old and new areas, not measured directly.
A percentile is the share of the comparison group at or below this county’s value. A peer score needs at least 20 peers with published data. Where fewer report, the cell is left blank instead of being worked out from a handful.