Pottawattamie County, Iowa

County Distress Index: Elevated · 50.0 | 93,179 people · 7th most distressed in Iowa

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Pottawattamie County, IA registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 50.0 — 1596th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Housing Cost Burden, where housing costs consume a moderate share of household income. Within Iowa, it ranks 7th of 99 counties. It scores higher than all 8 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Pottawattamie County's primary driver is Housing Cost Burden at 65.0 — above the national median.

Housing Cost Burden Primary driver 65.0
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 64
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 46
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 77
Homeownership Rate 69
Rent-to-Income Ratio 68
Employment & Wages 64.7
Unemployment Rate 55
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 76
Business Formation Rate 63
Debt & Delinquency 50.2
Debt in Collections 53
Medical Debt 49
Student Loan Delinquency 57
Auto Loan Delinquency 40
Credit Card Delinquency 47
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 56
Income & Poverty 38.0
Poverty Rate 34
Income vs. State Median 43
Child Poverty Rate 37
Community Vulnerability 32.4
Uninsured Rate 15
Disability Rate 49

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Pottawattamie County compares to its 8 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie County, IA 50.0 Elevated
Montgomery County, IA 46.6 Normal -3.5
Cass County, IA 46.0 Normal -4.0
Douglas County, NE 41.4 Normal -8.7
Harrison County, IA 36.1 Normal -13.9
Mills County, IA 31.7 Healthy -18.4
Shelby County, IA 28.4 Healthy -21.6
Sarpy County, NE 28.0 Healthy -22.0
Washington County, NE 23.9 Healthy -26.1

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Pottawattamie County
Berrien County, MI 50.1 Elevated +0.0
Elkhart County, IN 50.1 Elevated +0.0
Mercer County, PA 50.1 Elevated +0.0
Seneca County, OH 50.1 Elevated +0.1
Clearfield County, PA 50.0 Normal -0.1

Download Data

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