Hardin County vs Iowa County

A side-by-side comparison of Hardin County and Iowa County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Hardin County has the higher population (16,729 vs 16,547 in Iowa County). Iowa County has the higher median household income ($72,185 vs $64,906 in Hardin County). Iowa County has the higher median home value ($189,800 vs $113,000 in Hardin County).

Population, income & housing

	Hardin County	Iowa County
Population	16,729	16,547
Median age	45.2 yrs	42.2 yrs
Median household income	$64,906	$72,185
Median home value	$113,000	$189,800
Median gross rent	$814	$722
Housing units	8,028	7,355
Homeownership rate	73.3%	76.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.2%	24.2%
Unemployment rate	3.7%	2.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hardin County	Iowa County
Population	17,061 → 16,729 (-1.9%)	16,189 → 16,547 (+2.2%)
Median household income	$54,196 → $64,906 (+19.8%)	$61,443 → $72,185 (+17.5%)
Median home value	$94,300 → $113,000 (+19.8%)	$152,500 → $189,800 (+24.5%)
Median gross rent	$639 → $814 (+27.4%)	$580 → $722 (+24.5%)

Hardin County

Population

17,06116,729

Median household income

$54,196$64,906

Median home value

$94,300$113,000

Median gross rent

$639$814

Iowa County

Population

16,18916,547

Median household income

$61,443$72,185

Median home value

$152,500$189,800

Median gross rent

$580$722

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Hardin County	Iowa County
Under 5	4.6%	5.4%
5 to 17	14.7%	18.1%
18 to 24	7.8%	6.4%
25 to 34	10.3%	11.1%
35 to 44	12.5%	12.4%
45 to 54	11.7%	11.5%
55 to 64	15.5%	15.6%
65 to 74	12.7%	11.1%
75 and over	10.3%	8.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hardin County	Iowa County
White (non-Hispanic)	90.7%	93.4%
Black or African American	1.0%	0.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	0.9%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.9%	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	5.1%	3.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hardin County	Iowa County
No high school diploma	6.3%	5.3%
High school graduate	33.6%	34.7%
Some college or associate's	38.9%	35.8%
Bachelor's degree	15.5%	17.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.7%	6.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hardin County	Iowa County
Drove alone	79.0%	79.7%
Carpooled	5.2%	7.5%
Public transit	0.5%	0.1%
Walked	5.0%	3.1%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.4%	8.2%
Other means	1.8%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hardin County	Iowa County
1-unit, detached	84.5%	78.1%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	3.1%
2 to 4 units	8.1%	8.7%
5 to 19 units	3.6%	4.1%
20 or more units	0.7%	2.0%
Mobile home & other	2.1%	3.9%

Poverty & households

	Hardin County	Iowa County
Poverty rate	8.6%	9.2%
Average household size	2.29	2.37
Mean commute (minutes)	21	22
Median year structure built	1954	1971