Buena Vista County vs Washington County

A side-by-side comparison of Buena Vista County and Washington County: population, income, housing, and more.

Buena Vista County and Washington County are counties in Iowa. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Washington County has the higher population (22,539 vs 20,684 in Buena Vista County). Washington County has the higher median household income ($71,339 vs $66,564 in Buena Vista County). Washington County has the higher median home value ($199,600 vs $146,900 in Buena Vista County).

Population, income & housing

	Buena Vista County	Washington County
Population	20,684	22,539
Median age	35.7 yrs	40.3 yrs
Median household income	$66,564	$71,339
Median home value	$146,900	$199,600
Median gross rent	$835	$862
Housing units	8,241	9,638
Homeownership rate	72.5%	72.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.1%	24.9%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	2.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buena Vista County	Washington County
Population	20,058 → 20,684 (+3.1%)	22,100 → 22,539 (+2.0%)
Median household income	$57,125 → $66,564 (+16.5%)	$62,556 → $71,339 (+14.0%)
Median home value	$115,600 → $146,900 (+27.1%)	$151,600 → $199,600 (+31.7%)
Median gross rent	$706 → $835 (+18.3%)	$754 → $862 (+14.3%)

Buena Vista County

Population

20,05820,684

Median household income

$57,125$66,564

Median home value

$115,600$146,900

Median gross rent

$706$835

Washington County

Population

22,10022,539

Median household income

$62,556$71,339

Median home value

$151,600$199,600

Median gross rent

$754$862

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buena Vista County	Washington County
Under 5	7.0%	6.3%
5 to 17	19.7%	18.3%
18 to 24	10.1%	7.5%
25 to 34	11.9%	11.1%
35 to 44	12.3%	12.5%
45 to 54	10.8%	11.2%
55 to 64	12.1%	13.3%
65 to 74	9.4%	11.0%
75 and over	6.6%	8.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buena Vista County	Washington County
White (non-Hispanic)	53.5%	89.2%
Black or African American	3.1%	0.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	10.0%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	2.5%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.2%
Two or more races	1.9%	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino	28.6%	7.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buena Vista County	Washington County
No high school diploma	19.5%	6.8%
High school graduate	31.8%	35.8%
Some college or associate's	26.7%	32.5%
Bachelor's degree	15.1%	16.5%
Graduate or professional degree	7.0%	8.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buena Vista County	Washington County
Drove alone	69.9%	77.8%
Carpooled	17.3%	9.1%
Public transit	0.0%	1.0%
Walked	5.9%	2.5%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.3%	8.5%
Other means	0.3%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buena Vista County	Washington County
1-unit, detached	75.1%	79.0%
1-unit, attached	2.9%	3.4%
2 to 4 units	6.2%	7.9%
5 to 19 units	9.9%	4.9%
20 or more units	3.7%	1.3%
Mobile home & other	2.3%	3.5%

Poverty & households

	Buena Vista County	Washington County
Poverty rate	8.2%	8.5%
Average household size	2.61	2.45
Mean commute (minutes)	15	24
Median year structure built	1963	1962