Decatur County, IA

County

Add Comparison

2023 Population

7,669

0.195% 1-year decline

US Senator

Chuck Grassley

Republican Party

US Senator

Joni Ernst

Republican Party

2023 Median Age

36.2

1.09% 1-year decrease

2023 Poverty Rate

15.2%

5% 1-year increase

2023 Median Household Income

$57,146

1.92% 1-year growth

2023 Employed Population

3,505

0.747% 1-year growth

About

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Decatur County, IA are White (Non-Hispanic) (90.9%), Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (2.87%), White (Hispanic) (2%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (1.63%), and Two+ (Hispanic) (0.691%).

None of the households in Decatur County, IA reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

98.5% of the residents in Decatur County, IA are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in Decatur County, IA are Graceland University-Lamoni (459 degrees awarded in 2022).

Most people in Decatur County, IA drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 22.9 minutes. The average car ownership in Decatur County, IA was 2 cars per household.

Decatur County, IA borders Clarke County, IA, Lucas County, IA, Ringgold County, IA, Union County, IA, Wayne County, IA, Harrison County, MO, and Mercer County, MO.

United States Iowa

Population & Diversity

Decatur County, IA is home to a population of 7.67k people, from which 98.5% are citizens. As of 2023, 1.9% of Decatur County, IA residents were born outside of the country (146 people).

In 2023, there were 31.7 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (6.97k people) in Decatur County, IA than any other race or ethnicity. There were 220 Two+ (Non-Hispanic) and 153 White (Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

98.5%

2023 Citizenship

98.2%

2022 Citizenship

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Decatur County, IA compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in Decatur County, IA

White (Non-Hispanic)
6.97k ± 50
Two+ (Non-Hispanic)
220 ± 59.2
White (Hispanic)
153 ± 51

3.26%

Hispanic Population

250 people

3.26% of the people in Decatur County, IA are hispanic (250 people).

The following chart shows the 7 races represented in Decatur County, IA as a share of the total population.

Global Diversity

The PUMS dataset is not available at the County level, so we are showing data for Iowa.

Most Common Origin

Mexico
42,604 ± 5,034 people
India
12,351 ± 2,723 people
Vietnam
7,795 ± 2,165 people

In 2022, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Iowa was Mexico, the natal country of 42,604 Iowa residents, followed by India with 12,351 and Vietnam with 7,795.

Foreign-Born Population

1.9%

2023 Foreign-Born Population

146 people

2.23%

2022 Foreign-Born Population

171 people

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Decatur County, IA compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period

Vietnam
193 ± 50
Korea
40 ± 29
Gulf War (2001-)
38 ± 28

Decatur County, IA has a large population of military personnel who served in Vietnam, 4.83 times greater than any other conflict.

Economy

The economy of Decatur County, IA employs 3.51k people. The largest industries in Decatur County, IA are Educational Services (611 people), Manufacturing (516 people), and Health Care & Social Assistance (427 people), and the highest paying industries are Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($77,917), Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($66,750), and Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($63,750).

Males in Iowa have an average income that is 1.34 times higher than the average income of females, which is $54,745. The income inequality in Iowa (measured using the Gini index) is 0.442, which is lower than than the national average.

Employment

Occupations

3.51k

2023 Value

± 308

0.747%

1 Year growth

± 12.2%

The most common job groups, by number of people living in Decatur County, IA, are Management Occupations (413 people), Sales & Related Occupations (317 people), and Education Instruction, & Library Occupations (316 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Decatur County, IA.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for false.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Iowa (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

View Full Dashboard

Industries

Employment by Industries

3.51k

2023 Value

± 308

0.747%

1 Year growth

± 12.2%

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Decatur County, IA, are Educational Services (611 people), Manufacturing (516 people), and Health Care & Social Assistance (427 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Decatur County, IA, though some of these residents may live in Decatur County, IA and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Iowa.

Y-Axis

1.48%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 1.57M people employed in Iowa. This represents a 1.48% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 10.9%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in Iowa.

Establishments by Size

The industries with the most establishments

16
Construction
13
Other Services (except Public Administration)
11
Retail Trade

The visualization shows the distribution of establishments by industry and by size according to the number of employees.

Depending on the option selected, the visualization shows the number of employees or number of establishments and its share across establishment sizes.

Payroll by Industry Sector

The industries with the highest total annual payroll

$13.4k
Health Care and Social Assistance
$7.33k
Retail Trade
$3.7k
Manufacturing

The chart shows the total annual payroll and the average annual payroll by industry.

Civics

In the 2020 presidential election, the popular vote in Decatur County, IA went to Donald J. Trump with 68.8% of the vote. The runner-up was Joseph R Biden Jr. (29.4%), followed by Other (0.973%).

Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are the senators currently representing the state of Iowa. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

Iowa is currently represented by 4 members in the U.S. house, and members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms.

Presidential Elections

Presidential Popular Vote Over Time

2020 Election Results

Donald J. Trump (68.8%)
Republican Party
Joseph R Biden Jr. (29.4%)
Democratic Party
Other (0.973%)
Green and Other Party

In the 2020 presidential election, the popular vote in Decatur County, IA went to Donald J. Trump with 68.8% of the vote. The runner-up was Joseph R Biden Jr. (29.4%), followed by Other (0.973%).

The following chart shows the popular vote results in Decatur County, IA for each registered party from 1976 to 2020.

Senator Elections

US Senators from Iowa

Senatorial voting results are only available at the state level. Showing data for Iowa.

Chuck Grassley

Senator from Iowa

Assumed office on January 3, 1981

Joni Ernst

Senator from Iowa

Assumed office on January 3, 2015

Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are the senators currently representing Iowa.

In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

The following chart shows elected senators in Iowa over time, excluding special elections, colored by their political party.

US Representative Elections

US Representatives from Iowa

Iowa is currently represented by 4 members in the U.S. house.

Members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms, and the following chart shows the how the members for Iowa have changed over time starting in 2008.

Education

In 2022, universities in Decatur County, IA awarded 459 degrees. The student population of Decatur County, IA in 2022 is skewed towards women, with 562 male students and 675 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in Decatur County, IA are White (340 and 77.4%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (31 and 7.06%), Black or African American (25 and 5.69%), and Unknown (15 and 3.42%).

The largest universities in Decatur County, IA by number of degrees awarded are Graceland University-Lamoni (459 and 100%).

The most popular majors in Decatur County, IA are Family Practice Nurse (143 and 31.2%), Registered Nursing (69 and 15%), and General Business Administration & Management (31 and 6.75%).

The median tuition cost in Decatur County, IA for private four year colleges is $31,250.

Admissions & Enrollments

Applicants, Admissions & Enrolled

Measure

In 2022 in Decatur County, IA, the percentage of applicants admitted was 74.5%, while the percentage of admitted who enrolled was 13.5%. The number of students enrolled in N/A was N/A (N/A% men and N/A% women).

The line chart shows the evolution of the percentage of applicants admitted, admitted who enrolled or the number of students enrolled according to the option selected in the upper button.

Completions

Concentrations

In 2022, the most common concentation for Bachelors Degree recipients in Decatur County, IA was N/A with N/A degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Bachelors Degree from schools in Decatur County, IA according to their major.

Universities

Gender

Race

Graceland University-Lamoni

Largest Universities by degrees awarded

459 degrees awarded

In 2022, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was Graceland University-Lamoni with 459 degrees awarded.

Student Diversity

In 2022, 114 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Decatur County, IA, which is 0.33 times less than the 345 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2022 the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was White students. These 340 degrees mean that there were 11 times more degrees awarded to White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Hispanic or Latino, with 31 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Working Population

Educational Pyramid

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Iowa.

Measure

In 2022, 0.66% of men over 25 years of age had not completed any academic degree (no schooling), while 0.685% of women were in the same situation.

This visualization shows the gender distribution of the population according to the academic level reached.

Educational Attainment

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Iowa.

Race

The most common educational levels obtained by the working population in 2022 were High School or Equivalent (751k), Some college (564k), and Bachelors Degree (469k).

This visualization illustrates the percentage distribution of the population according to the highest educational level reached. You can filter the data by race by using the selector above.

Housing & Living

People in Decatur County, IA have an average commute time of 22.9 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in Decatur County, IA is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

In 2023, 14.2% of the population was living with severe housing problems in Decatur County, IA. From 2014 to 2023, the indicator grew 0.219%.

Equity

Income by Location

Use the dropdown to filter by race/ethnicity.

The following map shows all of the tracts in Decatur County, IA colored by their Median Household Income (N/A).

Error: TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'label')

Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

$57,146

Median Household Income

± $6,095

N/A

Number of Households

± 0

The following chart displays the households in Decatur County, IA distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the N/A range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for Decatur County, IA is from Iowa.

0.442

2022 Wage GINI in Iowa

0.439

2021 Wage GINI in Iowa

In 2022, the income inequality in Iowa was 0.442 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.723% growth from 2021 to 2022, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat less even. The GINI for Iowa was lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Iowa in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Iowa across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2023

Drove Alone (75.7%)
Carpooled (10.2%)
Worked At Home (7.95%)

In 2023, 75.7% of workers in Decatur County, IA drove alone to work, followed by those who carpooled to work (10.2%) and those who worked at home (7.95%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

22.9 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in Decatur County, IA have a shorter commute time (22.9 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.6 minutes). Additionally, 2.96% of the workforce in Decatur County, IA have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in Decatur County, IA compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in Decatur County, IA distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Decatur County, IA have 2 cars.

Poverty

Severe Housing Problems

In 2023, 14.2% of the population was living with severe housing problems in Decatur County, IA. From 2014 to 2023, the indicator grew 0.219%.

The graph shows the trend of the percentage of the population living with severe housing problems.

Poverty & Diversity

15.2% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Decatur County, IA (1.07k out of 7.02k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is higher than the national average of 12.4%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 55 - 64, followed by Males 25 - 34 and then Males < 5.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Decatur County, IA is White, followed by Two Or More and Other.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

Social Needs

Data only available at the state level.

Most prevalent states

California
35,798 individuals
New York
5,087 individuals
Florida
4,915 individuals

In 2017, California had the highest estimated number of chronically homeless individuals in the nation, at 35,798. New York has the second highest (5,087), followed by Florida (4,915).

The following map shows the estimated number of chronically homeless individuals by state over multiple years.

Health

92.1% of the population of Decatur County, IA has health coverage, with 41.7% on employee plans, 18.5% on Medicaid, 14.7% on Medicare, 15.8% on non-group plans, and 1.47% on military or VA plans.

Primary care physicians in Decatur County, IA see 3884 patients per year on average, which represents a 1.3% decrease from the previous year (3935 patients). Compare this to dentists who see 1276 patients per year, and mental health providers who see 383 patients per year.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, N/A were men and N/A were women.

Coverage

Patient to Clinician Ratios

3,884 to 1

Patient to Primary Care Physician Ratio in Decatur County, IA

Primary care physicians in Decatur County, IA see an average of 3,884 patients per year. This represents a 1.3% decrease from the previous year (3,935 patients).

The following chart shows how the number of patients seen by primary care physicians has been changing over time in Decatur County, IA in comparison to its neighboring geographies.

Health Care Diversity

In N/A, insured persons according to age ranges were distributed in .

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, N/A were men and N/A were women.

The following chart shows the number of people with health coverage by gender.

Uninsured People

7.9%

Uninsured

41.7%

Employer Coverage

18.5%

Medicaid

14.7%

Medicare

15.8%

Non-Group

1.47%

Military or VA

The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in Decatur County, IA changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.