Bremer County, IA

County Profile

25,204 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Bremer County, IA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

66out of 100
Area Score
Top 24% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 41% of 1,463 counties measured59
SchoolsTop 9% of 1,377 counties measured82
Growth857th of 1,453 counties measured45
Housing affordabilityTop 5% of 1,462 counties measured88
Climate1,276th of 1,463 counties measured56
Physical resilience767th of 1,463 counties measured58
AccessTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured94
Economic stabilityTop 10% of 1,463 counties measured88
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.1% and median household income $86,784, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 79% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 9% of published profiles for schools.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 23% of renter income and the median home is 2.3 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
25,204
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$86,784
Top 12% nationally
Density
58/sq mi
435.5 sq mi of land
Median age
39.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Bremer County
Iowa
Nearest major airport
ALO
16 mi · Waterloo Rgnl
Median home value
$219,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.1%, lower than in 87% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 3.5% over the past year, to 12,386 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $86,784 is higher than in 88% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$59,40752nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$59,85956th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,6292024 ACS 5-Year$86,784Top 12%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,3482024 ACS 5-Year$43,033Top 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$61,605Top 32%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.1%Top 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.6 minTop 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year36.2%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year75.0%33rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202612,386Bottom 15%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−4.6%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.5%Bottom 7%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202612,77615th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year85.5%Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.0%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%27th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.1%Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.3%71st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.01.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.1% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202487k77k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $86,784 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,920$47,440
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,500$27,820
Retail Salespersons2,460$31,270
Cashiers2,340$29,320
Registered Nurses1,890$76,920
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators1,610$50,310

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

79% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 78% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.7 students for every full-time teacher across 15 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
16
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.7
across 15 of them
Math proficiency
79.0%
Top 7% in Iowa
Reading proficiency
78.2%
Top 13% in Iowa
The 12 largest of 16 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Waverly-Shell Rock Senior High SchoolWaverly-Shell Rock Comm School District73715.082%87%
Waverly-Shell Rock Middle SchoolWaverly-Shell Rock Comm School District68113.981%71%
Denver Elementary School - Lincoln Street BuildingDenver Comm School District43115.492%82%
Denver Senior High SchoolDenver Comm School District27813.985%95%
Wapsie Valley High SchoolWapsie Valley Comm School District27312.472%77%
Janesville Elementary SchoolJanesville Consolidated School District26913.467%77%
Janesville Junior-Senior High SchoolJanesville Consolidated School District24320.382%82%
Sumner-Fredericksburg High SchoolSumner-Fredericksburg Comm School District24314.365%75%
Denver Middle SchoolDenver Comm School District23821.692%92%
Tripoli Elementary SchoolTripoli Comm School District21916.862%52%
Durant Elementary SchoolSumner-Fredericksburg Comm School District20913.977%67%
Tripoli Middle/Sr High SchoolTripoli Comm School District17010.662%62%

20.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Iowa’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 12% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 88.0, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area is up 37% over five years, and up 2.6% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,824 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.29% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $978, close to the $921 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $978 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $39,100 a year, about 45% of the median household income here of $86,784.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $921 a month.

A median home at $219,600 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,367, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
88.0

Prices here run about 12% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
23.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$978
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$921
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$219,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Bremer County’s median household income of $86,784, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area’s figure202388.0Top 7%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.6%27th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+37.0%22nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+61.2%6th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 40%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.7%79th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±482024 ACS 5-Year10,58545th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$745Top 14%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,290Top 24%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$978Top 24%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$782024 ACS 5-Year$921Bottom 41%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,7572024 ACS 5-Year$219,60063rd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1052024 ACS 5-Year$2,82482nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,7732024 ACS 5-Year$94,367Top 19%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year1.29%81st percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year23.3%Top 16%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±722024 ACS 5-Year13325th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%30th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.0%32nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1542024 ACS 5-Year86926th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

45/ 100
Ranks 857 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 25,328 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 44 units authorized in 2025, up 29% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 46 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Bremer County gained about 0.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,407, close to the $59,859 of households that moved out.

At 1.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
46
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.8
Bottom 34% nationally
Year over year
+39%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202425k25k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
25%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,407
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,859
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Black Hawk County, IA 335 people · 29% of arrivals
  2. Butler County, IA 98 people · 8.5% of arrivals
  3. Chickasaw County, IA 73 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. Floyd County, IA 47 people · 4.1% of arrivals
  5. Fayette County, IA 43 people · 3.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Black Hawk County, IA 329 people · 30% of departures
  2. Butler County, IA 101 people · 9.2% of departures
  3. Fayette County, IA 53 people · 4.8% of departures
  4. Polk County, IA 48 people · 4.4% of departures
  5. Chickasaw County, IA 35 people · 3.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420254434
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+19%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 11°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 36.3 inches, including 39.1 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 40, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WATERLOO MUNI AP, 16.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year542024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals36.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals39.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals11°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year402024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals55°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
40
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

58 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and drought, with inland flooding alone responsible for 46% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtElevated
HailModerate
Strong windModerate
Cold waveHigh
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, tornado, ice storm, landslide, wildfire, earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Bremer County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 9.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 0.0 per 100,000 residents in Bremer County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Bremer County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Waterloo Rgnl at 16 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year92.6%Top 11%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle16 miTop 19%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.9%Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Waterloo RgnlALO16 mi8,399 ft
The Eastern IowaCID69 mi8,600 ft
Rochester IntlRST78 mi9,034 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
66
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Bremer County, IA