Howard County, Iowa

County Distress Index: Healthy · 29.8 | 9,376 people · 64th most distressed in Iowa

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Howard County, IA ranks among the least distressed counties in the country at 29.8 — 2892nd nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Employment & Wages, where the job market is relatively stable with wages that keep pace with costs. Within Iowa, it ranks 64th of 99 counties. Its score is in the middle of its 6 neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Howard County's primary driver is Employment & Wages at 40.8 — above the national median.

Employment & Wages Primary driver 40.8
Unemployment Rate 30
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 29
Business Formation Rate 62
Community Vulnerability 34.9
Uninsured Rate 62
Disability Rate 8
Income & Poverty 31.6
Poverty Rate 20
Income vs. State Median 55
Child Poverty Rate 21
Housing Cost Burden 29.1
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 13
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 22
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 65
Homeownership Rate 38
Rent-to-Income Ratio 8
Debt & Delinquency 12.7
Debt in Collections 6
Medical Debt 23
Student Loan Delinquency 32
Auto Loan Delinquency 5
Credit Card Delinquency 5
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 5

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Howard County compares to its 6 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Howard County
Howard County, IA 29.8 Healthy
Mower County, MN 43.7 Normal +13.9
Floyd County, IA 35.8 Normal +6.0
Fillmore County, MN 35.7 Normal +5.9
Chickasaw County, IA 26.0 Healthy -3.8
Mitchell County, IA 23.7 Healthy -6.1
Winneshiek County, IA 19.8 Healthy -10.1

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Howard County
Jackson County, MN 29.9 Healthy +0.0
Greeley County, NE 29.9 Healthy +0.1
Grant County, SD 30.1 Healthy +0.3
Ellsworth County, KS 30.2 Healthy +0.3
Armstrong County, TX 30.2 Healthy +0.3

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