Colfax vs Prairie City

A side-by-side comparison of Colfax and Prairie City: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Colfax has the higher population (2,089 vs 1,649 in Prairie City). Colfax has the higher median household income ($82,878 vs $78,269 in Prairie City). Prairie City has the higher median home value ($177,400 vs $160,500 in Colfax).

Population, income & housing

	Colfax	Prairie City
Population	2,089	1,649
Median age	33.3 yrs	37.0 yrs
Median household income	$82,878	$78,269
Median home value	$160,500	$177,400
Median gross rent	$830	$796
Housing units	851	666
Homeownership rate	70.9%	76.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.8%	29.2%
Unemployment rate	3.7%	6.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Colfax	Prairie City
Population	1,839 → 2,089 (+13.6%)	2,091 → 1,649 (-21.1%)
Median household income	$57,039 → $82,878 (+45.3%)	$76,827 → $78,269 (+1.9%)
Median home value	$102,600 → $160,500 (+56.4%)	$137,100 → $177,400 (+29.4%)
Median gross rent	$714 → $830 (+16.2%)	$878 → $796 (-9.3%)

Colfax

Population

1,8392,089

Median household income

$57,039$82,878

Median home value

$102,600$160,500

Median gross rent

$714$830

Prairie City

Population

2,0911,649

Median household income

$76,827$78,269

Median home value

$137,100$177,400

Median gross rent

$878$796

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Colfax	Prairie City
Under 5	7.9%	7.6%
5 to 17	22.8%	24.6%
18 to 24	4.8%	4.7%
25 to 34	15.5%	9.3%
35 to 44	13.8%	18.1%
45 to 54	7.8%	13.9%
55 to 64	12.2%	7.0%
65 to 74	9.8%	9.8%
75 and over	5.5%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Colfax	Prairie City
White (non-Hispanic)	94.0%	97.2%
Black or African American	0.9%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.7%	0.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	1.4%	1.6%
Hispanic or Latino	3.0%	0.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Colfax	Prairie City
No high school diploma	5.6%	2.8%
High school graduate	37.8%	31.8%
Some college or associate's	35.8%	36.2%
Bachelor's degree	13.0%	24.4%
Graduate or professional degree	7.9%	4.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Colfax	Prairie City
Drove alone	84.7%	73.8%
Carpooled	5.5%	3.9%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	3.3%	4.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.0%	17.8%
Other means	0.4%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Colfax	Prairie City
1-unit, detached	70.6%	77.0%
1-unit, attached	5.2%	3.8%
2 to 4 units	6.9%	13.7%
5 to 19 units	12.1%	3.5%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	5.2%	2.1%

Poverty & households

	Colfax	Prairie City
Poverty rate	10.6%	1.4%
Average household size	2.70	2.64
Mean commute (minutes)	21	27
Median year structure built	1957	1970