Ames vs Roland

A side-by-side comparison of Ames and Roland: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Ames has the higher population (66,112 vs 1,458 in Roland). Roland has the higher median household income ($84,779 vs $60,102 in Ames). Ames has the higher median home value ($263,800 vs $173,100 in Roland).

Population, income & housing

	Ames	Roland
Population	66,112	1,458
Median age	23.3 yrs	41.9 yrs
Median household income	$60,102	$84,779
Median home value	$263,800	$173,100
Median gross rent	$1,040	$983
Housing units	27,706	702
Homeownership rate	42.9%	85.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	63.5%	32.6%
Unemployment rate	6.4%	0.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ames	Roland
Population	66,023 → 66,112 (+0.1%)	1,408 → 1,458 (+3.6%)
Median household income	$48,105 → $60,102 (+24.9%)	$76,413 → $84,779 (+10.9%)
Median home value	$205,900 → $263,800 (+28.1%)	$146,300 → $173,100 (+18.3%)
Median gross rent	$930 → $1,040 (+11.8%)	$615 → $983 (+59.8%)

Ames

Population

66,02366,112

Median household income

$48,105$60,102

Median home value

$205,900$263,800

Median gross rent

$930$1,040

Roland

Population

1,4081,458

Median household income

$76,413$84,779

Median home value

$146,300$173,100

Median gross rent

$615$983

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ames	Roland
Under 5	3.2%	6.7%
5 to 17	8.3%	16.7%
18 to 24	42.9%	4.1%
25 to 34	13.4%	14.1%
35 to 44	8.5%	12.7%
45 to 54	6.2%	15.7%
55 to 64	6.9%	15.9%
65 to 74	6.2%	9.1%
75 and over	4.6%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ames	Roland
White (non-Hispanic)	77.6%	96.2%
Black or African American	3.6%	0.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	9.4%	0.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.1%	1.9%
Hispanic or Latino	4.9%	0.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ames	Roland
No high school diploma	2.5%	1.4%
High school graduate	11.5%	21.7%
Some college or associate's	22.5%	44.2%
Bachelor's degree	32.6%	24.0%
Graduate or professional degree	30.9%	8.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ames	Roland
Drove alone	65.3%	84.7%
Carpooled	7.7%	5.1%
Public transit	5.8%	0.0%
Walked	7.9%	1.2%
Bicycle	1.6%	0.0%
Worked from home	11.3%	9.1%
Other means	0.4%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ames	Roland
1-unit, detached	39.8%	92.5%
1-unit, attached	6.9%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	8.0%	0.9%
5 to 19 units	22.2%	3.3%
20 or more units	20.4%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	2.7%	1.6%

Poverty & households

	Ames	Roland
Poverty rate	25.9%	0.6%
Average household size	2.13	2.14
Mean commute (minutes)	16	22
Median year structure built	1991	1958