Greene County vs Palo Alto County

A side-by-side comparison of Greene County and Palo Alto County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Palo Alto County has the higher population (8,902 vs 8,722 in Greene County). Palo Alto County has the higher median household income ($68,963 vs $59,159 in Greene County). Greene County has the higher median home value ($140,500 vs $119,300 in Palo Alto County).

Population, income & housing

	Greene County	Palo Alto County
Population	8,722	8,902
Median age	44.8 yrs	41.5 yrs
Median household income	$59,159	$68,963
Median home value	$140,500	$119,300
Median gross rent	$774	$599
Housing units	4,316	4,517
Homeownership rate	74.3%	75.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.8%	20.5%
Unemployment rate	3.2%	2.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Greene County	Palo Alto County
Population	8,950 → 8,722 (-2.5%)	9,003 → 8,902 (-1.1%)
Median household income	$53,050 → $59,159 (+11.5%)	$52,932 → $68,963 (+30.3%)
Median home value	$94,700 → $140,500 (+48.4%)	$102,200 → $119,300 (+16.7%)
Median gross rent	$638 → $774 (+21.3%)	$580 → $599 (+3.3%)

Greene County

Population

8,9508,722

Median household income

$53,050$59,159

Median home value

$94,700$140,500

Median gross rent

$638$774

Palo Alto County

Population

9,0038,902

Median household income

$52,932$68,963

Median home value

$102,200$119,300

Median gross rent

$580$599

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Greene County	Palo Alto County
Under 5	4.9%	6.1%
5 to 17	16.2%	17.3%
18 to 24	7.4%	8.3%
25 to 34	10.4%	10.7%
35 to 44	11.5%	11.7%
45 to 54	10.6%	10.1%
55 to 64	14.5%	13.8%
65 to 74	13.3%	12.0%
75 and over	11.2%	9.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Greene County	Palo Alto County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.7%	91.6%
Black or African American	0.1%	1.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	0.6%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.0%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	3.3%	3.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Greene County	Palo Alto County
No high school diploma	7.0%	6.1%
High school graduate	31.9%	32.3%
Some college or associate's	41.3%	41.1%
Bachelor's degree	14.7%	15.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.1%	5.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Greene County	Palo Alto County
Drove alone	77.1%	77.1%
Carpooled	12.9%	10.0%
Public transit	0.1%	0.6%
Walked	2.1%	4.3%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.7%
Worked from home	6.8%	6.2%
Other means	0.7%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Greene County	Palo Alto County
1-unit, detached	82.6%	84.1%
1-unit, attached	2.7%	0.9%
2 to 4 units	5.8%	5.5%
5 to 19 units	4.7%	5.4%
20 or more units	1.3%	2.1%
Mobile home & other	3.0%	2.1%

Poverty & households

	Greene County	Palo Alto County
Poverty rate	10.4%	11.7%
Average household size	2.19	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	24	18
Median year structure built	1954	1957