Clarke County vs Howard County

A side-by-side comparison of Clarke County and Howard County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Clarke County has the higher population (9,690 vs 9,459 in Howard County). Howard County has the higher median household income ($67,336 vs $66,821 in Clarke County). Clarke County has the higher median home value ($160,200 vs $133,900 in Howard County).

Population, income & housing

	Clarke County	Howard County
Population	9,690	9,459
Median age	38.4 yrs	39.3 yrs
Median household income	$66,821	$67,336
Median home value	$160,200	$133,900
Median gross rent	$836	$699
Housing units	4,401	4,314
Homeownership rate	69.5%	76.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.0%	18.7%
Unemployment rate	4.1%	1.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Clarke County	Howard County
Population	9,360 → 9,690 (+3.5%)	9,226 → 9,459 (+2.5%)
Median household income	$54,427 → $66,821 (+22.8%)	$55,060 → $67,336 (+22.3%)
Median home value	$110,300 → $160,200 (+45.2%)	$107,100 → $133,900 (+25.0%)
Median gross rent	$783 → $836 (+6.8%)	$622 → $699 (+12.4%)

Clarke County

Population

9,3609,690

Median household income

$54,427$66,821

Median home value

$110,300$160,200

Median gross rent

$783$836

Howard County

Population

9,2269,459

Median household income

$55,060$67,336

Median home value

$107,100$133,900

Median gross rent

$622$699

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Clarke County	Howard County
Under 5	7.0%	6.6%
5 to 17	18.5%	18.9%
18 to 24	8.2%	7.3%
25 to 34	10.5%	10.3%
35 to 44	11.3%	12.2%
45 to 54	12.0%	10.3%
55 to 64	12.8%	14.1%
65 to 74	12.1%	11.2%
75 and over	7.6%	9.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Clarke County	Howard County
White (non-Hispanic)	78.0%	93.6%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.3%
Asian	0.6%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.1%
Two or more races	4.9%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	16.3%	3.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Clarke County	Howard County
No high school diploma	13.9%	8.2%
High school graduate	42.9%	41.0%
Some college or associate's	27.2%	32.1%
Bachelor's degree	10.7%	14.9%
Graduate or professional degree	5.3%	3.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Clarke County	Howard County
Drove alone	79.7%	76.0%
Carpooled	9.1%	7.9%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	2.1%	3.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.3%
Worked from home	8.0%	10.6%
Other means	1.1%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Clarke County	Howard County
1-unit, detached	71.5%	90.8%
1-unit, attached	2.0%	1.7%
2 to 4 units	7.1%	3.5%
5 to 19 units	4.5%	2.5%
20 or more units	8.0%	0.4%
Mobile home & other	7.0%	1.0%

Poverty & households

	Clarke County	Howard County
Poverty rate	13.8%	8.4%
Average household size	2.38	2.52
Mean commute (minutes)	24	22
Median year structure built	1975	1954