Muscatine County, IA

County Profile

42,559 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Muscatine 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.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 47% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity911th of 1,463 counties measured49
Schools1,092nd of 1,377 counties measured26
Growth743rd of 1,453 counties measured49
Housing affordabilityTop 29% of 1,462 counties measured78
Climate1,184th of 1,463 counties measured59
Physical resilienceTop 27% of 1,463 counties measured75
AccessTop 42% of 1,463 counties measured84
Economic stabilityTop 40% of 1,463 counties measured67
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.6% and median household income $69,396, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 63% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.8 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 28% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.1 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
42,559
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,396
Top 39% nationally
Density
97/sq mi
437.4 sq mi of land
Median age
39.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Muscatine County
Iowa
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MLI
32 mi · Quad Cities Intl
Median home value
$182,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.6%, lower than in 70% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.5% over the past year, to 19,909 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$54,75438th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$56,88648th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,2172024 ACS 5-Year$69,396Top 39%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4022024 ACS 5-Year$35,349Top 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$57,515Top 44%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.4%Bottom 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.4 minTop 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.1%Top 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.9%68th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202619,909Bottom 31%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−4.5%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.5%Bottom 32%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202620,65331st percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.1%Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%43rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Bottom 49%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.6%Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.4%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.72.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.6% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, 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

202120222023202470k62k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $69,396 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.

63% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 58% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.8 students for every full-time teacher across 15 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
15
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
63.4%
Bottom 27% in Iowa
Reading proficiency
58.3%
Bottom 3% in Iowa
The 12 largest of 15 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Muscatine High SchoolMuscatine Comm School District1,38015.752%44%
Susan Clark Junior HighMuscatine Comm School District54412.1——
Wilton Elementary SchoolWilton Comm School District50916.473%76%
Wilton Jr-Sr High SchoolWilton Comm School District44715.467%62%
Jefferson Elementary SchoolMuscatine Comm School District44112.358%52%
West Liberty Elementary SchoolWest Liberty Comm School District43812.253%54%
West Liberty High SchoolWest Liberty Comm School District39715.367%62%
McKinley Elementary SchoolMuscatine Comm School District39411.674%62%
Madison Elementary SchoolMuscatine Comm School District37212.477%67%
West Liberty Middle SchoolWest Liberty Comm School District36714.159%58%
Grant Elementary SchoolMuscatine Comm School District30012.077%77%
Franklin Elementary SchoolMuscatine Comm School District29510.562%62%

46.8% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa is up 40% over five years, and up 3.1% 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 $2,732 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.50% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,071, some 10% above the $971 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,071 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $42,800 a year, about 62% of the median household income here of $69,396.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $971 a month.

A median home at $182,100 costs 2.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $86,246, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
27.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,071
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$971
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$182,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Muscatine County’s median household income of $69,396, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2+3.1%38th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2+39.6%27th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Iowa’s figure2026 Q2+74.3%20th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.1Top 28%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.9%46th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1142024 ACS 5-Year18,45462nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$858Top 36%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,374Top 36%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,071Top 36%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$392024 ACS 5-Year$971Bottom 34%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,2082024 ACS 5-Year$182,10050th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1172024 ACS 5-Year$2,73281st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,8122024 ACS 5-Year$86,246Top 30%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year1.50%90th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.5%Top 47%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1192024 ACS 5-Year15129th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%21st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%18th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3092024 ACS 5-Year1,10934th 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.

Development Momentum

49/ 100
Ranks 743 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 42,132 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Muscatine County lost 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 $54,754, close to the $56,886 of households that moved out.

At 3.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
128
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.0
Top 47% nationally
Year over year
+42%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
50.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202443k42k
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 falling for the last 4 years, 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
39%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$54,754
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$56,886
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Scott County, IA 247 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. Johnson County, IA 159 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Louisa County, IA 144 people · 9.5% of arrivals
  4. Cedar County, IA 89 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  5. Rock Island County, IL 72 people · 4.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Scott County, IA 233 people · 14% of departures
  2. Johnson County, IA 187 people · 12% of departures
  3. Louisa County, IA 163 people · 10% of departures
  4. Cedar County, IA 113 people · 7.0% of departures
  5. Rock Island County, IL 102 people · 6.3% 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

202220232024202512533
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+108%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 35.7 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, 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 IOWA CITY MUNI AP, 24.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year562024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals35.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals53°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
56
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

75 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, strong wind and hail, with inland flooding alone responsible for 50% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 73% of measured US counties.

HailHigh
Strong windModerate
DroughtModerate
Heat waveModerate
Ice stormModerate
TornadoModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, landslide, winter weather, inland flooding, wildfire, earthquake, hurricane, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

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.

Muscatine County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 12.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 13.8 per 100,000 residents in Muscatine County.

Homicide
3.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
13.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
26.1
per 100,000 residents

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 Muscatine 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 Quad Cities Intl at 32 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year90.4%Top 23%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle32 miTop 45%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-Year7.6%Top 27%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Quad Cities IntlMLI32 mi10,002 ft
The Eastern IowaCID41 mi8,600 ft
General Downing - Peoria IntlPIA93 mi10,104 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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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
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
April 2025 to March 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 Muscatine County, IA

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.