Dubuque, Iowa

Area Profile

59,174 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Dubuque, in Dubuque County.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 29% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
OpportunityTop 34% of 4,199 cities measured64
SchoolsTop 49% of 4,162 cities measured51
GrowthTop 20% of 4,224 cities measured66
Housing affordabilityTop 28% of 4,218 cities measured74
Climate3,870th of 4,225 cities measured57
Physical resilienceTop 28% of 4,226 cities measured77
Access3,915th of 4,226 cities measured63
Economic stabilityTop 48% of 4,226 cities measured59
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.7% and median household income $65,845, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 70% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.5 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 511 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 34% 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
59,174
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,845
Bottom 49% nationally
Density
1,892/sq mi
31.3 sq mi of land
Median age
38.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Iowa
Metro area
Nearest major airport
CID
67 mi · The Eastern Iowa
Median home value
$204,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7%, lower than in 74% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 30,221 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsDubuque County, IA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,50824th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftDubuque County, IA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$62,50329th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,8982024 ACS 5-Year$65,845Bottom 49%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6402024 ACS 5-Year$38,244Top 37%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.4%Bottom 47%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year15.8 minTop 7%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year34.0%Top 25%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%48th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202630,221Bottom 35%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.8%Bottom 41%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Top 25%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202631,36635th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year84.5%Top 26%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageDubuque, IA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$60,370Bottom 16%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageDubuque, IA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$48,750Bottom 30%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%86th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 38%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.7%Top 26%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%67th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.82.1
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

202120222023202466k59k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,845 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 — Dubuque, IA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Customer Service Representatives1,880$46,670
Retail Salespersons1,810$30,960
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,600$28,680
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers1,310$58,470
Registered Nurses1,280$76,790
Cashiers1,240$30,500

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.

70% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 66% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.5 students for every full-time teacher across 17 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
17
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
70.4%
Bottom 44% in Iowa
Reading proficiency
66.4%
Bottom 39% in Iowa
The 12 largest of 17 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Hempstead High SchoolDubuque Comm School District1,49915.571%68%
Dubuque Senior High SchoolDubuque Comm School District1,49011.468%66%
Eleanor Roosevelt Middle SchoolDubuque Comm School District1,08114.478%77%
George Washington Middle SchoolDubuque Comm School District58411.962%63%
Eisenhower Elementary SchoolDubuque Comm School District56815.476%72%
Carver Elementary SchoolDubuque Comm School District49914.784%79%
John Kennedy Elementary SchoolDubuque Comm School District49313.780%75%
Table Mound Elementary SchoolDubuque Comm School District42513.387%72%
Irving Elementary SchoolDubuque Comm School District40913.679%71%
Thomas Jefferson Middle SchoolDubuque Comm School District4029.357%46%
Prescott Elementary SchoolDubuque Comm School District3528.437%32%
Marshall Elementary SchoolDubuque Comm School District32310.862%57%

45.1% 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 11% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 89.1, 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 Dubuque, IA Metro Area is up 41% over five years, and up 5.2% 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 $2,682 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.31% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,077, some 14% above the $948 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,077 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,100 a year, about 65% of the median household income here of $65,845.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $948 a month.

A median home at $204,800 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $87,156, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
89.1

Prices here run about 11% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Dubuque, 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
29.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,077
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$948
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$204,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Dubuque’s median household income of $65,845, 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 Dubuque, IA Metro Area’s figure202389.1Top 5%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Dubuque, IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+5.2%80th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Dubuque, IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+41.2%47th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Dubuque, IA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+69.5%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 45%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year65.8%30th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3082024 ACS 5-Year27,83298th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$841Top 10%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,450Top 15%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,077Top 12%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$292024 ACS 5-Year$948Top 48%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,0182024 ACS 5-Year$204,80054th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$632024 ACS 5-Year$2,68269th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,5852024 ACS 5-Year$87,156Top 39%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year1.31%69th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year29.4%Bottom 44%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±982024 ACS 5-Year13191st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%56th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%43rd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2852024 ACS 5-Year1,70197th percentileof 32,3302024 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

66/ 100
Top 20% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 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 1% since 2020, to 58,987 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 216 units authorized in 2025, 40% below the prior year.

87% of the 511 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 Dubuque County, which contains Dubuque, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,508, close to the $62,503 of households that moved out.

At 8.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
511
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.6
Top 15% nationally
Year over year
+34%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
87.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202460k59k
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
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
66%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,508
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$62,503
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Jo Daviess County, IL 190 people · 6.1% of arrivals
  2. Cook County, IL 184 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  3. Grant County, WI 163 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  4. Jackson County, IA 159 people · 5.1% of arrivals
  5. Linn County, IA 146 people · 4.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Jackson County, IA 159 people · 5.2% of departures
  2. Jo Daviess County, IL 150 people · 4.9% of departures
  3. Grant County, WI 136 people · 4.5% of departures
  4. Cook County, IL 131 people · 4.3% of departures
  5. Linn County, IA 130 people · 4.3% 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. This is the figure for Dubuque County, IA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202535851
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+80%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 11°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 38.2 inches, including 42.5 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DUBUQUE RGNL AP, 7.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals38.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals42.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals11°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals53°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

77 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 47% of it. Cold wave 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 72% of measured US cities.

HailElevated
TornadoElevated
Strong windModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
405
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,528
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Dubuque's police department reported 405 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,528.

Dubuque County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.7 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 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 6.8 per 100,000 residents in Dubuque County.

Homicide
2.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
6.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
14.2
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Dubuque’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Dubuque (Dubuque County) rather than Dubuque itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest The Eastern Iowa at 67 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.9%Bottom 46%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle67 miBottom 6%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.6%Bottom 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
The Eastern IowaCID67 mi8,600 ft
Quad Cities IntlMLI73 mi10,002 ft
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN82 mi9,006 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
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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.

ZIP codes in Dubuque

3 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Dubuque with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
5200143,101$61,643$178,00065
5200217,005$91,036$298,90071
5200313,796$98,908$286,10072