Lee County vs Wapello County

A side-by-side comparison of Lee County and Wapello County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Wapello County has the higher population (35,265 vs 33,175 in Lee County). Wapello County has the higher median household income ($60,034 vs $59,803 in Lee County). Lee County has the higher median home value ($123,600 vs $112,900 in Wapello County).

Population, income & housing

	Lee County	Wapello County
Population	33,175	35,265
Median age	43.7 yrs	39.9 yrs
Median household income	$59,803	$60,034
Median home value	$123,600	$112,900
Median gross rent	$814	$950
Housing units	15,808	15,740
Homeownership rate	75.5%	67.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.0%	19.4%
Unemployment rate	4.0%	3.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Lee County	Wapello County
Population	34,227 → 33,175 (-3.1%)	35,141 → 35,265 (+0.4%)
Median household income	$49,564 → $59,803 (+20.7%)	$46,246 → $60,034 (+29.8%)
Median home value	$94,500 → $123,600 (+30.8%)	$82,100 → $112,900 (+37.5%)
Median gross rent	$670 → $814 (+21.5%)	$718 → $950 (+32.3%)

Lee County

Population

34,22733,175

Median household income

$49,564$59,803

Median home value

$94,500$123,600

Median gross rent

$670$814

Wapello County

Population

35,14135,265

Median household income

$46,246$60,034

Median home value

$82,100$112,900

Median gross rent

$718$950

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Lee County	Wapello County
Under 5	5.5%	5.9%
5 to 17	15.8%	17.7%
18 to 24	7.1%	8.2%
25 to 34	11.7%	12.4%
35 to 44	11.8%	12.0%
45 to 54	11.5%	12.4%
55 to 64	14.9%	13.3%
65 to 74	13.0%	10.7%
75 and over	8.7%	7.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Lee County	Wapello County
White (non-Hispanic)	90.5%	77.3%
Black or African American	2.7%	3.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	0.4%	1.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	2.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.8%	3.6%
Hispanic or Latino	3.4%	12.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Lee County	Wapello County
No high school diploma	5.8%	12.3%
High school graduate	37.6%	38.1%
Some college or associate's	35.5%	30.2%
Bachelor's degree	15.6%	11.8%
Graduate or professional degree	5.4%	7.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Lee County	Wapello County
Drove alone	81.8%	79.1%
Carpooled	8.8%	12.6%
Public transit	0.2%	0.4%
Walked	1.8%	1.7%
Bicycle	0.7%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.6%	4.6%
Other means	1.1%	1.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Lee County	Wapello County
1-unit, detached	79.2%	78.1%
1-unit, attached	1.7%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	6.4%	4.9%
5 to 19 units	2.2%	7.1%
20 or more units	6.2%	4.0%
Mobile home & other	4.4%	4.0%

Poverty & households

	Lee County	Wapello County
Poverty rate	13.0%	16.7%
Average household size	2.24	2.44
Mean commute (minutes)	20	20
Median year structure built	1959	1958