Johnson County vs Polk County

A side-by-side comparison of Johnson County and Polk County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Polk County has the higher population (497,441 vs 154,881 in Johnson County). Polk County has the higher median household income ($81,621 vs $74,721 in Johnson County). Johnson County has the higher median home value ($293,100 vs $248,400 in Polk County).

Population, income & housing

	Johnson County	Polk County
Population	154,881	497,441
Median age	30.8 yrs	36.2 yrs
Median household income	$74,721	$81,621
Median home value	$293,100	$248,400
Median gross rent	$1,104	$1,113
Housing units	67,211	215,016
Homeownership rate	58.8%	67.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	54.6%	39.5%
Unemployment rate	3.7%	4.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Johnson County	Polk County
Population	148,577 → 154,881 (+4.2%)	479,612 → 497,441 (+3.7%)
Median household income	$62,542 → $74,721 (+19.5%)	$67,637 → $81,621 (+20.7%)
Median home value	$227,600 → $293,100 (+28.8%)	$179,900 → $248,400 (+38.1%)
Median gross rent	$972 → $1,104 (+13.6%)	$910 → $1,113 (+22.3%)

Johnson County

Population

148,577154,881

Median household income

$62,542$74,721

Median home value

$227,600$293,100

Median gross rent

$972$1,104

Polk County

Population

479,612497,441

Median household income

$67,637$81,621

Median home value

$179,900$248,400

Median gross rent

$910$1,113

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Johnson County	Polk County
Under 5	5.4%	6.6%
5 to 17	14.1%	18.0%
18 to 24	20.9%	8.7%
25 to 34	14.8%	15.1%
35 to 44	12.4%	14.2%
45 to 54	9.9%	12.1%
55 to 64	9.6%	11.6%
65 to 74	7.9%	8.4%
75 and over	5.0%	5.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Johnson County	Polk County
White (non-Hispanic)	75.5%	74.1%
Black or African American	7.5%	7.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	5.8%	4.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more races	4.0%	3.3%
Hispanic or Latino	6.7%	10.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Johnson County	Polk County
No high school diploma	3.8%	7.5%
High school graduate	15.8%	24.3%
Some college or associate's	25.9%	28.7%
Bachelor's degree	30.6%	26.7%
Graduate or professional degree	24.0%	12.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Johnson County	Polk County
Drove alone	64.9%	74.1%
Carpooled	7.5%	8.6%
Public transit	4.1%	0.6%
Walked	7.9%	1.4%
Bicycle	1.9%	0.2%
Worked from home	12.6%	13.9%
Other means	1.1%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Johnson County	Polk County
1-unit, detached	48.6%	62.4%
1-unit, attached	11.9%	7.6%
2 to 4 units	6.0%	3.6%
5 to 19 units	17.1%	9.5%
20 or more units	12.7%	14.8%
Mobile home & other	3.7%	2.1%

Poverty & households

	Johnson County	Polk County
Poverty rate	16.7%	10.1%
Average household size	2.36	2.41
Mean commute (minutes)	20	20
Median year structure built	1991	1981