Official Federal Data
Dallas County, Iowa
FIPS 19049 · Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA · Population 107,968
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$102,379 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
3.1% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$11.1B ▲
GDP
51.5% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$102,379 ▲
Per Capita
$54,385 ▲
Mean Household
$137,324 ▲
Poverty Rate
6.3% ▲
Median Income Comparison
Dallas County$102,379
Iowa$75,059
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 26.6%
18-34 · 21.5%
35-54 · 29%
55-64 · 10.2%
65+ · 12.9%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
95.4%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +5.8 pts
51.5%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▲ +15.8 pts
17.7%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▲ +3.6 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
107,968
Population
61,094
Labor Force
Employed
59,614
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
3.1% ▲ +0.4 pts YoY
Mean Commute 5 min below national avg
21.2 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
20.2%
Key Takeaways
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 15.8 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Finance and Insurance employs 16,546 workers (36.3% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $129,251.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $11.1B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $129,251 while Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation averages $23,731, a 5.4x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?
Get Deeper Trends
EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.
Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Finance & Insurance Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
16,482
Cluster Employment
9.72x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Credit Intermediation and Related Activities
9.72x 9,018
Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
7.11x 6,685
Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers
2.97x 1,228
Animal Production and Aquaculture
2.35x 230
Securities, Commodity Contracts, Investments
1.95x 779
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
1.90x 720
Crop Production
1.79x 343
Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries
1.67x 1,152
Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Other Retailers
1.64x 456
Truck Transportation
1.55x 832
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.24x
Management of Companies and Enterprises
228 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Credit Intermediation and Related Activities concentrates at 9.72x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$355,600 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,311 ▲
Rent/Mo
69% ▼
Owner-Occ
5.2% ▼
Vacancy
3.5x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$1,063/mo
1 Bedroom
$1,109/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,318/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,794/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,841/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$2,559/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.5x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$2,559/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
65,399 ▲
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 5 min below national avg
21.2 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
20.2%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
89.5%
of prime-age population
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
51.5% ▲
HS Diploma+
95.4% ▼
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
28,295/yr
9,271/yr
8,469/yr
4,028/yr
2,755/yr
2,365/yr
1,407/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
16.8%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
53.5%
Service
11%
Sales & Office
19.8%
Construction / Maint.
5.8%
Production / Transport
9.9%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 59,614 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Strong participation: 77% labor force participation among working-age residents indicates an engaged, available workforce.
- Short commutes: 21.2-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 21,768 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Dallas County shows strong potential for credit intermediation and related activities attraction, with a 9.72x concentration and 9,018 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The interconnected base across credit intermediation and related activities, insurance carriers and related activities, and clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
Take it further
AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.
Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.
Schedule a DemoAvailable as premium offerings.
Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Dallas County, Iowa, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Dallas County, Iowa?
107,968 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Dallas County, Iowa?
$102,379 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Dallas County, Iowa?
3.1% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Dallas County, Iowa?
$11.1B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
Dallas County, IA: Public data. Imagine the full platform.
Get a Demo →