Pottawattamie County, IA

County Profile

93,424 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Pottawattamie 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.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 33% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 21% of 1,463 counties measured70
Schools937th of 1,377 counties measured36
GrowthTop 10% of 1,453 counties measured74
Housing affordabilityTop 30% of 1,462 counties measured78
Climate1,175th of 1,463 counties measured59
Physical resilience826th of 1,463 counties measured54
AccessTop 20% of 1,463 counties measured93
Economic stabilityTop 41% of 1,463 counties measured66
The quick read

Pottawattamie County ranks in the top 21% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.7% and median household income of $73,602.

In the public schools here, 66% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.2 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 704 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 41% on the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

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
93,424
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$73,602
Top 29% nationally
Density
98/sq mi
951.3 sq mi of land
Median age
40.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Pottawattamie County
Iowa
Metro area
Nearest major airport
OMA
18 mi · Eppley Airfield
Median home value
$195,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7%, lower than in 65% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.1% over the past year, to 46,548 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$52,16729th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$53,61636th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,6252024 ACS 5-Year$73,602Top 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$9172024 ACS 5-Year$37,477Top 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$58,548Top 41%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.2 minTop 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year23.6%Top 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year79.8%67th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202646,548Top 41%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.2%Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.1%Top 18%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202648,35859th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%75th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.7%Top 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%60th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.42.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.7% 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

202120222023202474k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $73,602 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 — Omaha, NE-IA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers15,580$29,450
Registered Nurses13,200$84,600
Retail Salespersons12,080$33,260
General and Operations Managers11,430$90,620
Stockers and Order Fillers10,490$36,810
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers10,210$58,010

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.

66% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 64% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher across 34 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
34
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
66.4%
Bottom 40% in Iowa
Reading proficiency
64.4%
Bottom 27% in Iowa
The 12 largest of 34 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Abraham Lincoln High SchoolCouncil Bluffs Comm School District1,33315.546%53%
Thomas Jefferson High SchoolCouncil Bluffs Comm School District1,14617.648%49%
Lewis Central Senior High SchoolLewis Central Comm School District1,02017.680%87%
Gerald W Kirn Middle SchoolCouncil Bluffs Comm School District91315.762%65%
Titan Hill Intermediate SchoolLewis Central Comm School District90117.766%64%
Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolCouncil Bluffs Comm School District85514.058%50%
Lewis Central Middle SchoolLewis Central Comm School District72016.072%74%
E A Kreft Primary SchoolLewis Central Comm School District50214.8——
College View ElementaryCouncil Bluffs Comm School District48815.775%67%
Roosevelt Elementary SchoolCouncil Bluffs Comm School District45513.462%42%
Longfellow Elementary SchoolCouncil Bluffs Comm School District43113.967%48%
Underwood Elementary SchoolUnderwood Comm School District42416.382%87%

39.8% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 92.5, 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 Omaha, NE-IA Metro Area is up 40% over five years, and up 4.2% 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 $3,067 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.57% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,368, some 34% above the $1,018 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,368 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $54,700 a year, about 74% of the median household income here of $73,602.

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 $1,018 a month.

A median home at $195,700 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $89,949, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
92.5

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Omaha, NE-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
27.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,368
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,018
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$195,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Pottawattamie County’s median household income of $73,602, 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 Omaha, NE-IA Metro Area’s figure202392.5Top 37%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Omaha, NE-IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.2%65th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Omaha, NE-IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+40.1%29th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Omaha, NE-IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+95.1%50th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 31%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year69.9%29th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±982024 ACS 5-Year40,08379th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,148Bottom 30%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,813Bottom 30%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,368Bottom 31%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$332024 ACS 5-Year$1,018Bottom 29%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,5602024 ACS 5-Year$195,70055th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1032024 ACS 5-Year$3,06786th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,6972024 ACS 5-Year$89,949Top 24%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year1.57%91st percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.6%Top 48%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±542024 ACS 5-Year6713th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%2nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.9%24th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3662024 ACS 5-Year2,44161st 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

74/ 100
Top 10% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 93,529 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 267 units authorized in 2025, 61% below the prior year.

76% of the 704 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Pottawattamie County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $52,167, close to the $53,616 of households that moved out.

At 7.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
704
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.5
Top 13% nationally
Year over year
+41%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
76.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202494k93k
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
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
78%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,167
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$53,616
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Douglas County, NE 1,366 people · 37% of arrivals
  2. Sarpy County, NE 373 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Mills County, IA 132 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  4. Harrison County, IA 120 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. Shelby County, IA 77 people · 2.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Douglas County, NE 1,137 people · 31% of departures
  2. Sarpy County, NE 341 people · 9.2% of departures
  3. Mills County, IA 171 people · 4.6% of departures
  4. Shelby County, IA 113 people · 3.0% of departures
  5. Harrison County, IA 104 people · 2.8% 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

2022202320242025679135
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+98%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 31.9 inches, including 27.1 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station OMAHA EPPLEY AIRFIELD, 18.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals31.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals27.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals54°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

54 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and hail, with inland flooding alone responsible for 37% of it.

HailElevated
Strong windModerate
TornadoElevated
DroughtModerate
Heat waveElevated
Ice stormModerate
Cold waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, winter weather, 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.

Pottawattamie 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 9.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 11.8 per 100,000 residents in Pottawattamie County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
18.2
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 Pottawattamie 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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 Eppley Airfield at 18 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year86.2%Bottom 45%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle18 miTop 23%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-Year10.7%Bottom 46%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Eppley AirfieldOMA18 mi9,502 ft
LincolnLNK72 mi8,649 ft
Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day FldSUX85 mi9,002 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
64
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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
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 Pottawattamie 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.