Monroe County vs Van Buren County

A side-by-side comparison of Monroe County and Van Buren County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Monroe County has the higher population (7,546 vs 7,236 in Van Buren County). Monroe County has the higher median household income ($72,518 vs $60,183 in Van Buren County). Monroe County has the higher median home value ($135,900 vs $118,800 in Van Buren County).

Population, income & housing

	Monroe County	Van Buren County
Population	7,546	7,236
Median age	42.1 yrs	44.8 yrs
Median household income	$72,518	$60,183
Median home value	$135,900	$118,800
Median gross rent	$787	$686
Housing units	3,648	3,506
Homeownership rate	83.8%	83.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.0%	19.4%
Unemployment rate	2.9%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Monroe County	Van Buren County
Population	7,807 → 7,546 (-3.3%)	7,150 → 7,236 (+1.2%)
Median household income	$58,269 → $72,518 (+24.5%)	$48,591 → $60,183 (+23.9%)
Median home value	$100,200 → $135,900 (+35.6%)	$92,800 → $118,800 (+28.0%)
Median gross rent	$566 → $787 (+39.0%)	$571 → $686 (+20.1%)

Monroe County

Population

7,8077,546

Median household income

$58,269$72,518

Median home value

$100,200$135,900

Median gross rent

$566$787

Van Buren County

Population

7,1507,236

Median household income

$48,591$60,183

Median home value

$92,800$118,800

Median gross rent

$571$686

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Monroe County	Van Buren County
Under 5	6.1%	6.4%
5 to 17	17.0%	16.8%
18 to 24	7.8%	6.8%
25 to 34	10.4%	9.7%
35 to 44	11.7%	10.8%
45 to 54	12.2%	11.3%
55 to 64	14.9%	15.0%
65 to 74	11.6%	13.8%
75 and over	8.2%	9.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Monroe County	Van Buren County
White (non-Hispanic)	95.1%	94.6%
Black or African American	0.2%	0.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	0.8%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.9%
Two or more races	2.7%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	0.8%	1.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Monroe County	Van Buren County
No high school diploma	5.4%	10.7%
High school graduate	41.3%	36.7%
Some college or associate's	33.3%	33.2%
Bachelor's degree	15.0%	13.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.0%	5.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Monroe County	Van Buren County
Drove alone	83.7%	73.3%
Carpooled	5.9%	10.9%
Public transit	0.0%	0.3%
Walked	2.3%	3.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.3%
Worked from home	7.5%	10.7%
Other means	0.5%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Monroe County	Van Buren County
1-unit, detached	76.6%	84.5%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	0.7%
2 to 4 units	7.1%	5.4%
5 to 19 units	1.2%	0.8%
20 or more units	1.8%	0.1%
Mobile home & other	12.2%	8.6%

Poverty & households

	Monroe County	Van Buren County
Poverty rate	9.2%	12.2%
Average household size	2.47	2.47
Mean commute (minutes)	28	23
Median year structure built	1972	1971