Dickens vs Peterson

A side-by-side comparison of Dickens and Peterson: population, income, housing, and more.

Dickens and Peterson are places in Iowa. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Peterson has the higher population (373 vs 134 in Dickens). Dickens has the higher median household income ($92,778 vs $76,875 in Peterson). Dickens has the higher median home value ($98,000 vs $86,700 in Peterson).

Population, income & housing

	Dickens	Peterson
Population	134	373
Median age	49.5 yrs	37.6 yrs
Median household income	$92,778	$76,875
Median home value	$98,000	$86,700
Median gross rent	—	$850
Housing units	68	202
Homeownership rate	96.2%	87.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	5.2%	22.4%
Unemployment rate	1.3%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Dickens	Peterson
Population	212 → 134 (-36.8%)	407 → 373 (-8.4%)
Median household income	$56,667 → $92,778 (+63.7%)	$60,357 → $76,875 (+27.4%)
Median home value	$75,600 → $98,000 (+29.6%)	$59,400 → $86,700 (+46.0%)
Median gross rent	$558 → $625 (+12.0%)	$700 → $850 (+21.4%)

Dickens

Population

212134

Median household income

$56,667$92,778

Median home value

$75,600$98,000

Median gross rent

$558$625

Peterson

Population

407373

Median household income

$60,357$76,875

Median home value

$59,400$86,700

Median gross rent

$700$850

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Dickens	Peterson
Under 5	6.0%	7.8%
5 to 17	11.2%	17.7%
18 to 24	11.2%	6.4%
25 to 34	13.4%	15.0%
35 to 44	0.0%	7.0%
45 to 54	20.9%	7.0%
55 to 64	14.9%	15.5%
65 to 74	10.4%	13.9%
75 and over	11.9%	9.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Dickens	Peterson
White (non-Hispanic)	97.0%	97.1%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.5%
Asian	0.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.0%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	3.0%	1.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Dickens	Peterson
No high school diploma	8.3%	5.1%
High school graduate	49.0%	30.7%
Some college or associate's	37.5%	41.7%
Bachelor's degree	3.1%	13.8%
Graduate or professional degree	2.1%	8.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Dickens	Peterson
Drove alone	84.7%	88.7%
Carpooled	15.3%	4.9%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	1.0%
Worked from home	0.0%	4.4%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Dickens	Peterson
1-unit, detached	72.1%	91.1%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	0.0%	5.0%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	27.9%	4.0%

Poverty & households

	Dickens	Peterson
Poverty rate	7.6%	2.7%
Average household size	2.58	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	23	30
Median year structure built	1971	1938