Kossuth County vs O'Brien County

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

Kossuth 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.

Kossuth County has the higher population (14,610 vs 14,103 in O'Brien County). O'Brien County has the higher median household income ($68,216 vs $65,656 in Kossuth County). O'Brien County has the higher median home value ($158,900 vs $135,100 in Kossuth County).

Population, income & housing

	Kossuth County	O'Brien County
Population	14,610	14,103
Median age	45.0 yrs	39.8 yrs
Median household income	$65,656	$68,216
Median home value	$135,100	$158,900
Median gross rent	$859	$770
Housing units	7,220	6,544
Homeownership rate	75.3%	77.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.2%	22.5%
Unemployment rate	2.1%	1.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kossuth County	O'Brien County
Population	14,978 → 14,610 (-2.5%)	13,835 → 14,103 (+1.9%)
Median household income	$56,073 → $65,656 (+17.1%)	$53,703 → $68,216 (+27.0%)
Median home value	$102,100 → $135,100 (+32.3%)	$107,000 → $158,900 (+48.5%)
Median gross rent	$679 → $859 (+26.5%)	$585 → $770 (+31.6%)

Kossuth County

Population

14,97814,610

Median household income

$56,073$65,656

Median home value

$102,100$135,100

Median gross rent

$679$859

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)

	Kossuth County	O'Brien County
Under 5	5.5%	6.6%
5 to 17	16.7%	17.8%
18 to 24	6.7%	7.2%
25 to 34	10.4%	12.0%
35 to 44	10.7%	12.5%
45 to 54	10.1%	10.0%
55 to 64	15.0%	12.8%
65 to 74	13.0%	11.1%
75 and over	11.9%	10.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kossuth County	O'Brien County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.2%	88.5%
Black or African American	0.5%	1.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	0.4%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.3%
Some other race	0.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.4%	1.8%
Hispanic or Latino	4.2%	7.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kossuth County	O'Brien County
No high school diploma	5.3%	9.7%
High school graduate	33.1%	35.6%
Some college or associate's	39.4%	32.2%
Bachelor's degree	16.3%	17.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.9%	5.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kossuth County	O'Brien County
Drove alone	78.2%	82.3%
Carpooled	8.5%	8.6%
Public transit	0.2%	0.1%
Walked	3.6%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.1%
Worked from home	7.8%	6.2%
Other means	1.4%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kossuth County	O'Brien County
1-unit, detached	84.8%	83.6%
1-unit, attached	1.8%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	4.8%	3.0%
5 to 19 units	5.5%	4.2%
20 or more units	2.7%	4.6%
Mobile home & other	0.5%	2.3%

Poverty & households

	Kossuth County	O'Brien County
Poverty rate	9.6%	13.8%
Average household size	2.20	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	16	18
Median year structure built	1961	1959