Oelwein vs West Union

A side-by-side comparison of Oelwein and West Union: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Oelwein has the higher population (5,878 vs 2,393 in West Union). West Union has the higher median household income ($50,909 vs $49,821 in Oelwein). West Union has the higher median home value ($133,200 vs $96,800 in Oelwein).

Population, income & housing

	Oelwein	West Union
Population	5,878	2,393
Median age	44.0 yrs	42.0 yrs
Median household income	$49,821	$50,909
Median home value	$96,800	$133,200
Median gross rent	$762	$925
Housing units	2,911	1,305
Homeownership rate	76.8%	64.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.1%	24.9%
Unemployment rate	7.8%	2.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Oelwein	West Union
Population	5,979 → 5,878 (-1.7%)	2,545 → 2,393 (-6.0%)
Median household income	$41,849 → $49,821 (+19.0%)	$48,250 → $50,909 (+5.5%)
Median home value	$82,200 → $96,800 (+17.8%)	$100,400 → $133,200 (+32.7%)
Median gross rent	$650 → $762 (+17.2%)	$538 → $925 (+71.9%)

Oelwein

Population

5,9795,878

Median household income

$41,849$49,821

Median home value

$82,200$96,800

Median gross rent

$650$762

West Union

Population

2,5452,393

Median household income

$48,250$50,909

Median home value

$100,400$133,200

Median gross rent

$538$925

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Oelwein	West Union
Under 5	5.8%	3.5%
5 to 17	15.0%	20.6%
18 to 24	5.4%	9.7%
25 to 34	12.7%	6.9%
35 to 44	13.0%	11.9%
45 to 54	10.5%	8.6%
55 to 64	15.8%	11.9%
65 to 74	11.6%	11.2%
75 and over	10.2%	15.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Oelwein	West Union
White (non-Hispanic)	89.6%	91.7%
Black or African American	0.2%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.7%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	5.8%	1.0%
Hispanic or Latino	2.8%	6.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Oelwein	West Union
No high school diploma	8.9%	6.4%
High school graduate	47.2%	37.0%
Some college or associate's	27.8%	31.8%
Bachelor's degree	9.0%	16.7%
Graduate or professional degree	7.1%	8.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Oelwein	West Union
Drove alone	80.9%	86.9%
Carpooled	8.3%	3.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	3.2%	3.8%
Bicycle	1.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.7%	4.8%
Other means	0.0%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Oelwein	West Union
1-unit, detached	81.9%	78.7%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	1.8%
2 to 4 units	9.3%	4.6%
5 to 19 units	3.8%	7.3%
20 or more units	1.5%	1.1%
Mobile home & other	2.4%	6.5%

Poverty & households

	Oelwein	West Union
Poverty rate	17.1%	12.8%
Average household size	2.26	2.05
Mean commute (minutes)	21	18
Median year structure built	1949	1960