county

Buena Vista County, IA

Demographic and economic profile of Buena Vista County, IA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Buena Vista County is a small agricultural and manufacturing-oriented county of roughly 20,700 residents that has posted modest population growth of 2.1% over five years, with a notably high foreign-born share of 21.6% that reflects labor demand in its processing industries. The workforce of approximately 14,100 participants (68.2% labor force participation rate) skews toward trade and production occupations, with only 22.1% holding a bachelor's degree or higher and median worker earnings of $39,127. Housing costs are low—median home value of $146,900 and median rent of $835/month—and a mean commute of 14.7 minutes points to a compact, accessible labor market, though a 5.0% unemployment rate sits slightly above typical rural Iowa benchmarks.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

20,684

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$71,719

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

35.6 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.1% since 2018

Buena Vista County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone12,457 (60.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2,338 (11.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race2,075 (10.0%)
  • Asian Alone1,982 (9.6%)
  • Black or African American Alone679 (3.3%)
  • Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander Alone608 (2.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish4,607
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island1,916
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic55
  4. 4.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)34
  5. 5.Korean28

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

26.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

21.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

625

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$69,556

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$33,083

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

8.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)3,340
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,102
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,184
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining654
  5. 5.Construction (Group)579

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations3,436
  2. 2.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,768
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,770
  4. 4.Service Occupations1,255
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,088

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 3.86×)632
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 3.21×)3,275
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.15×)1,290
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 0.94×)669
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 0.90×)213

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$146,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$835/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

73.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999847 (15.3%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999824 (14.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999578 (10.5%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999503 (9.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999438 (7.9%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999330 (6.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

22.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

80.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

68.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,127

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

14.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

3.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone7,359 (72.5%)
  • Carpooled1,667 (16.4%)
  • Worked At Home565 (5.6%)
  • Walked446 (4.4%)
  • Public Transit57 (0.6%)
  • Bicycle26 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.