Cass County vs O'Brien County

A side-by-side comparison of Cass County and O'Brien County: population, income, housing, and more.

Cass County and O'Brien County are counties in Iowa. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

O'Brien County has the higher population (14,103 vs 13,115 in Cass County). O'Brien County has the higher median household income ($68,216 vs $61,657 in Cass County). O'Brien County has the higher median home value ($158,900 vs $133,300 in Cass County).

Population, income & housing

	Cass County	O'Brien County
Population	13,115	14,103
Median age	44.0 yrs	39.8 yrs
Median household income	$61,657	$68,216
Median home value	$133,300	$158,900
Median gross rent	$769	$770
Housing units	6,397	6,544
Homeownership rate	72.3%	77.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.6%	22.5%
Unemployment rate	1.1%	1.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Cass County	O'Brien County
Population	13,091 → 13,115 (+0.2%)	13,835 → 14,103 (+1.9%)
Median household income	$50,187 → $61,657 (+22.9%)	$53,703 → $68,216 (+27.0%)
Median home value	$102,100 → $133,300 (+30.6%)	$107,000 → $158,900 (+48.5%)
Median gross rent	$646 → $769 (+19.0%)	$585 → $770 (+31.6%)

Cass County

Population

13,09113,115

Median household income

$50,187$61,657

Median home value

$102,100$133,300

Median gross rent

$646$769

O'Brien County

Population

13,83514,103

Median household income

$53,703$68,216

Median home value

$107,000$158,900

Median gross rent

$585$770

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Cass County	O'Brien County
Under 5	5.1%	6.6%
5 to 17	18.5%	17.8%
18 to 24	6.3%	7.2%
25 to 34	10.1%	12.0%
35 to 44	11.3%	12.5%
45 to 54	10.8%	10.0%
55 to 64	14.7%	12.8%
65 to 74	12.9%	11.1%
75 and over	10.3%	10.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Cass County	O'Brien County
White (non-Hispanic)	94.2%	88.5%
Black or African American	0.9%	1.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	0.3%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.3%	0.3%
Some other race	0.2%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.4%	1.8%
Hispanic or Latino	2.6%	7.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Cass County	O'Brien County
No high school diploma	7.0%	9.7%
High school graduate	37.5%	35.6%
Some college or associate's	34.0%	32.2%
Bachelor's degree	15.9%	17.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.6%	5.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Cass County	O'Brien County
Drove alone	78.8%	82.3%
Carpooled	6.2%	8.6%
Public transit	0.1%	0.1%
Walked	4.3%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.1%
Worked from home	9.1%	6.2%
Other means	1.4%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Cass County	O'Brien County
1-unit, detached	80.2%	83.6%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	7.1%	3.0%
5 to 19 units	4.2%	4.2%
20 or more units	4.8%	4.6%
Mobile home & other	2.6%	2.3%

Poverty & households

	Cass County	O'Brien County
Poverty rate	17.4%	13.8%
Average household size	2.22	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	16	18
Median year structure built	1954	1959