county

Van Buren County, IA

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

AI Overview

Van Buren County is a small, agriculture-oriented rural county with a population of 7,236 that has held essentially flat over five years (+0.2%). The workforce of roughly 4,200 participates at a 58.4% rate, earns a median of $39,533, and holds bachelor's degrees at a relatively low rate of 19.4%, with an unemployment rate of 4.2%. Housing costs are well below national norms—median home value of $118,800 and median rent of $686/month—supported by an 83.1% homeownership rate, though per capita GDP of $30,174 and a 12.2% poverty rate reflect a modest-income economy.

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

Population

7,236

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$61,161

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

44.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.2% since 2018

Van Buren County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone6,914 (95.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races135 (1.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race80 (1.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone74 (1.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone31 (0.4%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone4 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic642
  2. 2.Spanish45
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)5

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

53.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

527

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$30,174

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$31,538

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)558
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance547
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)444
  4. 4.Construction (Group)330
  5. 5.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining254

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations972
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations790
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations541
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations535
  5. 5.Service Occupations366

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.67×)240
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.67×)535
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.51×)336
  4. 4.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.40×)104
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.09×)384

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$118,800

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$686/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

81.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $250,000 to $299,999203 (8.6%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999175 (7.4%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999168 (7.1%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999153 (6.5%)
  • $90,000 to $99,999148 (6.3%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999148 (6.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

19.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

89.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,533

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone2,039 (67.2%)
  • Carpooled424 (14.0%)
  • Worked At Home385 (12.7%)
  • Walked147 (4.8%)
  • Other19 (0.6%)
  • Public Transit11 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Van Buren County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

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