Demographics of Story County, Iowa

Story County, Iowa had 101,291 people on July 1, 2025, by the Census Bureau’s estimate: +2,633 since July 2020. Age, income, poverty, housing and origin below come from the American Community Survey, averaged over 2020–2024, each with its margin of error.

Story County, in four figures

101,291
Population: July 1, 2025, Vintage 2025 estimate.; +2.7%
Change since July 2020: +2,633 people.; 26.9 ±0.3
Median age: ACS 2020–⁠2024.; $69,685 ±$2,902
Median household income: ACS 2020–⁠2024, in 2024 dollars.

Population, year by year

July 1 estimates from the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025. Each year's change is births less deaths, net moves from abroad and net moves from elsewhere in the country, with the Bureau's small residual. The 2020 row's components run 3 months, from the April census to July 1.

Story County, Iowa's population grew 2.7% from July 2020 to July 2025, against +3.1% nationally

The July 1 estimate of Story County, Iowa's resident population and the nation's, each year of the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025, as a share of its July 2020 level (= 100).

Source: The Census Bureau

About this chart

The figures

Story County, Iowa's population grew 2.7% from July 2020 to July 2025, against +3.1% nationally. The July 1 estimate of Story County, Iowa's resident population and the nation's, each year of the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025, as a share of its July 2020 level (= 100).
July 1	Population	Index	United States
2020	98,658	100.0	100.0
2021	99,675	101.0	100.2
2022	99,857	101.2	100.7
2023	101,021	102.4	101.6
2024	101,418	102.8	102.5
2025	101,291	102.7	103.1

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Population of Story County, Iowa on July 1 of each year, Vintage 2025
July 1	Population	Change	Births less deaths	From abroad	From elsewhere in the country
2020	98,658	+117	+80	+16	−14
2021	99,675	+1,017	+172	+278	+477
2022	99,857	+182	+174	+519	−475
2023	101,021	+1,164	+199	+725	+257
2024	101,418	+397	+194	+683	−485
2025	101,291	−127	+169	+494	−792

Age, 2020–2024

The median age is 26.9 ±0.3: for men 26.2 ±0.3 and for women 28.0 ±0.4. Shares are of everyone the survey counts, in the Bureau’s sex-by-age table (B01001).

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People in Story County by age, ACS 2020–2024
Age	People	Share	Iowa	United States
Under 5	4,204 ±73	4.2% ±0.1	5.9% ±<0.1	5.6% ±<0.1
5 to 17	12,072 ±472	12.0% ±0.5	17.0% ±0.1	16.3% ±<0.1
18 to 24	31,038 ±1,352	30.9% ±1.3	10.0% ±0.1	9.1% ±<0.1
25 to 44	22,978 ±577	22.9% ±0.6	25.1% ±0.1	26.9% ±<0.1
45 to 64	16,899 ±522	16.8% ±0.5	23.9% ±0.1	24.8% ±<0.1
65 and over	13,275 ±626	13.2% ±0.6	18.1% ±0.1	17.2% ±<0.1

Income and poverty, 2020–2024

Median household income is $69,685 ±$2,902, and income per person $38,610 ±$1,522, in 2024 dollars. The median is $75,059 ±$418 in Iowa and $80,734 ±$166 in the United States.

Households by income

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Households in Story County by income, ACS 2020–2024
Household income	Households	Share	Iowa	United States
Under $25,000	6,430 ±673	16.5% ±1.7	13.9% ±0.2	14.6% ±<0.1
$25,000 to $49,999	7,327 ±682	18.8% ±1.7	18.5% ±0.3	16.7% ±<0.1
$50,000 to $74,999	6,906 ±565	17.8% ±1.4	17.5% ±0.3	15.5% ±<0.1
$75,000 to $99,999	4,886 ±494	12.6% ±1.3	14.0% ±0.3	12.6% ±<0.1
$100,000 to $149,999	6,523 ±488	16.8% ±1.2	18.7% ±0.3	17.5% ±<0.1
$150,000 to $199,999	3,152 ±291	8.1% ±0.7	8.8% ±0.2	9.6% ±<0.1
$200,000 or more	3,680 ±394	9.5% ±1.0	8.6% ±0.2	13.4% ±0.1

Poverty by age

The poverty rate is the share of people whose family income is below the federal threshold for their family’s size, of everyone for whom the Bureau determines it (B17020).

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Poverty rate in Story County by age, ACS 2020–2024
Age	Below poverty	Rate	Iowa	United States
All ages	15,990 ±1,195	18.2% ±1.4	11.1% ±0.2	12.5% ±0.1
Under 18	1,556 ±313	9.7% ±1.9	12.9% ±0.3	16.1% ±0.1
18 to 59	13,252 ±1,001	24.4% ±1.7	11.4% ±0.3	11.6% ±0.1
60 and over	1,182 ±276	6.8% ±1.6	8.8% ±0.2	11.0% ±<0.1

Housing, 2020–2024

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Housing in Story County, ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Story County	Iowa	United States
Housing units	41,887 ±101	1,437,699 ±523	143,775,355 ±10,234
Occupied	92.9% ±1.2	91.5% ±0.3	89.9% ±0.1
Vacant	7.1% ±1.2	8.5% ±0.3	10.1% ±0.1
Owner occupied	55.5% ±1.4	71.7% ±0.3	65.2% ±0.3
Renter occupied	44.5% ±1.7	28.3% ±0.3	34.8% ±0.1
Median home value	$258,700 ±$8,356	$208,000 ±$1,141	$332,700 ±$236
Median gross rent	$1,018 ±$35	$972 ±$6	$1,413 ±$2
Median year built	1984 ±2	1972 ±1	1980 ±1

Occupied and vacant are shares of all housing units; owner and renter occupied are shares of occupied units. Value and rent are medians in 2024 dollars.

Origin and place of birth, 2020–2024

Hispanic or Latino origin is not a race in the Census Bureau’s tables. Here the people of Hispanic origin, of any race, are one row, and everyone else is counted by race alone (B03002), so the rows add to the whole.

Hispanic origin and race

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People in Story County by Hispanic origin and race, ACS 2020–2024
Origin	People	Share	Iowa	United States
Hispanic or Latino	5,184 ±0	5.2% ±<0.1	7.3% ±<0.1	19.3% ±<0.1
White alone, not Hispanic	81,361 ±441	81.0% ±0.4	82.3% ±0.1	57.4% ±<0.1
Black alone, not Hispanic	2,711 ±247	2.7% ±0.2	3.8% ±0.1	11.9% ±<0.1
Asian alone, not Hispanic	6,641 ±487	6.6% ±0.5	2.5% ±<0.1	5.9% ±<0.1
American Indian and Alaska Native alone, not Hispanic	108 ±44	0.1% ±<0.1	0.2% ±<0.1	0.5% ±<0.1
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, not Hispanic	12 to 132	< 0.1% to 0.1%	0.2% ±<0.1	0.2% ±<0.1
Some other race alone, not Hispanic	154 to 526	0.2% to 0.5%	0.3% ±<0.1	0.6% ±<0.1
Two or more races, not Hispanic	4,049 ±691	4.0% ±0.7	3.5% ±0.1	4.3% ±<0.1

A range (the estimate less and plus its margin) where the Bureau's estimate is too uncertain to state as one number: a coefficient of variation over 30%.

Place of birth and citizenship

“Born a citizen outside the states” counts people born in Puerto Rico, the island areas, or abroad to American parents. Naturalized citizens and those who are not citizens together make up the people born abroad (B05002).

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People in Story County by place of birth and citizenship, ACS 2020–2024
Born	People	Share	Iowa	United States
Born in the state	61,118 ±1,264	60.8% ±1.3	69.6% ±0.2	57.3% ±<0.1
Born in another state	29,610 ±1,340	29.5% ±1.3	23.8% ±0.2	26.9% ±<0.1
Born a citizen outside the states	1,093 ±277	1.1% ±0.3	0.7% ±<0.1	1.7% ±<0.1
Born abroad	8,645 ±697	8.6% ±0.7	5.9% ±0.1	14.1% ±<0.1
Naturalized citizens	3,041 ±384	3.0% ±0.4	2.6% ±0.1	7.4% ±<0.1
Not citizens	5,604 ±648	5.6% ±0.6	3.3% ±0.1	6.8% ±<0.1

Story County among the counties of Iowa

8th of 99 by population, July 2025. Every one is listed on the Iowa page.

Counties of Iowa near Story County in population, July 2025
County	July 2025	Change since 2020
Scott County	175,259	+0.4%
Johnson County	160,044	+4.6%
Black Hawk County	131,532	+0.4%
Dallas County	118,457	+17.8%
Woodbury County	106,649	+0.7%
Story County	101,291	+2.7%
Dubuque County	99,381	+0.1%
Pottawattamie County	92,996	−0.7%
Warren County	57,331	+9.0%
Clinton County	46,002	−0.9%
Cerro Gordo County	42,372	−1.5%

Elsewhere on the site

Rankings this appears in

No. 1 Counties in Iowa by poverty rate
No. 3 Counties in Iowa by median home value
No. 4 Counties in Iowa by median rent
No. 8 Counties by population in Iowa
No. 8 Counties in Iowa by foreign-born share
No. 9 Counties by population growth in Iowa

Sources

Census Bureau population estimates — counties and Puerto Rico municipios, with components of change — U.S. Census Bureau · U.S. Government work · retrieved September 25, 2026
American Community Survey 5-year estimates — table-based Summary File · U.S. Government work

Compiled automatically from Census Bureau population estimates — counties and Puerto Rico municipios, with components of change and American Community Survey 5-year estimates — table-based Summary File by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built

Data retrieved September 25, 2026