Iowa City vs North Liberty

A side-by-side comparison of Iowa City and North Liberty: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Iowa City has the higher population (75,264 vs 20,782 in North Liberty). North Liberty has the higher median household income ($103,933 vs $57,533 in Iowa City). North Liberty has the higher median home value ($300,000 vs $273,600 in Iowa City).

Population, income & housing

	Iowa City	North Liberty
Population	75,264	20,782
Median age	26.3 yrs	31.8 yrs
Median household income	$57,533	$103,933
Median home value	$273,600	$300,000
Median gross rent	$1,094	$1,226
Housing units	33,855	8,450
Homeownership rate	46.3%	68.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	60.7%	53.3%
Unemployment rate	4.2%	2.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Iowa City	North Liberty
Population	74,950 → 75,264 (+0.4%)	18,829 → 20,782 (+10.4%)
Median household income	$49,075 → $57,533 (+17.2%)	$83,949 → $103,933 (+23.8%)
Median home value	$215,100 → $273,600 (+27.2%)	$220,800 → $300,000 (+35.9%)
Median gross rent	$967 → $1,094 (+13.1%)	$1,110 → $1,226 (+10.5%)

Iowa City

Population

74,95075,264

Median household income

$49,075$57,533

Median home value

$215,100$273,600

Median gross rent

$967$1,094

North Liberty

Population

18,82920,782

Median household income

$83,949$103,933

Median home value

$220,800$300,000

Median gross rent

$1,110$1,226

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Iowa City	North Liberty
Under 5	4.2%	7.0%
5 to 17	9.8%	22.1%
18 to 24	33.8%	7.7%
25 to 34	14.5%	19.0%
35 to 44	9.7%	19.4%
45 to 54	8.3%	11.0%
55 to 64	7.7%	7.0%
65 to 74	7.1%	3.8%
75 and over	5.0%	3.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Iowa City	North Liberty
White (non-Hispanic)	72.4%	79.6%
Black or African American	8.3%	4.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	6.8%	4.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.6%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.9%	5.1%
Hispanic or Latino	8.1%	5.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Iowa City	North Liberty
No high school diploma	3.2%	1.3%
High school graduate	13.7%	11.1%
Some college or associate's	22.4%	34.3%
Bachelor's degree	31.1%	33.2%
Graduate or professional degree	29.6%	20.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Iowa City	North Liberty
Drove alone	56.0%	73.2%
Carpooled	7.6%	11.9%
Public transit	6.7%	0.8%
Walked	14.0%	0.6%
Bicycle	3.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	11.2%	13.4%
Other means	1.3%	0.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Iowa City	North Liberty
1-unit, detached	40.5%	49.9%
1-unit, attached	9.3%	22.8%
2 to 4 units	8.1%	3.7%
5 to 19 units	21.9%	15.1%
20 or more units	18.3%	3.7%
Mobile home & other	2.0%	4.8%

Poverty & households

	Iowa City	North Liberty
Poverty rate	26.3%	4.4%
Average household size	2.23	2.65
Mean commute (minutes)	18	24
Median year structure built	1984	2004