Ames vs Slater

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

Ames and Slater 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 1,498 in Slater). Slater has the higher median household income ($87,708 vs $60,102 in Ames). Ames has the higher median home value ($263,800 vs $222,000 in Slater).

Population, income & housing

	Ames	Slater
Population	66,112	1,498
Median age	23.3 yrs	39.0 yrs
Median household income	$60,102	$87,708
Median home value	$263,800	$222,000
Median gross rent	$1,040	$877
Housing units	27,706	615
Homeownership rate	42.9%	86.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	63.5%	34.0%
Unemployment rate	6.4%	0.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ames	Slater
Population	66,023 → 66,112 (+0.1%)	1,585 → 1,498 (-5.5%)
Median household income	$48,105 → $60,102 (+24.9%)	$74,219 → $87,708 (+18.2%)
Median home value	$205,900 → $263,800 (+28.1%)	$164,300 → $222,000 (+35.1%)
Median gross rent	$930 → $1,040 (+11.8%)	$744 → $877 (+17.9%)

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

Slater

Population

1,5851,498

Median household income

$74,219$87,708

Median home value

$164,300$222,000

Median gross rent

$744$877

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ames	Slater
Under 5	3.2%	5.7%
5 to 17	8.3%	19.2%
18 to 24	42.9%	8.2%
25 to 34	13.4%	9.8%
35 to 44	8.5%	15.4%
45 to 54	6.2%	11.9%
55 to 64	6.9%	14.8%
65 to 74	6.2%	8.5%
75 and over	4.6%	6.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ames	Slater
White (non-Hispanic)	77.6%	93.3%
Black or African American	3.6%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	9.4%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.1%	1.3%
Hispanic or Latino	4.9%	4.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ames	Slater
No high school diploma	2.5%	1.2%
High school graduate	11.5%	21.8%
Some college or associate's	22.5%	43.0%
Bachelor's degree	32.6%	22.6%
Graduate or professional degree	30.9%	11.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ames	Slater
Drove alone	65.3%	74.7%
Carpooled	7.7%	8.8%
Public transit	5.8%	0.0%
Walked	7.9%	1.4%
Bicycle	1.6%	0.4%
Worked from home	11.3%	14.7%
Other means	0.4%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ames	Slater
1-unit, detached	39.8%	82.4%
1-unit, attached	6.9%	3.3%
2 to 4 units	8.0%	7.0%
5 to 19 units	22.2%	2.1%
20 or more units	20.4%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	2.7%	5.2%

Poverty & households

	Ames	Slater
Poverty rate	25.9%	5.4%
Average household size	2.13	2.52
Mean commute (minutes)	16	23
Median year structure built	1991	1972