Lee County, Iowa Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Lee County, Iowa, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Lee County, Iowa. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Lee County, Iowa. The estimated population of Lee County, Iowa is 33,724 people, with a median age of 43.2.

We can look at the total population in Lee County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
33,724
 -0.65% -3.05%
2020
33,946
 -0.82% -
2019
34,227
 -0.91% -
2018
34,541
 -0.7% -
2017
34,785
 - -

Population of Lee County, Iowa by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
90.4%
91%
 -0.66%
Black/African American
3%
2.5%
 +20.00%
Native
0.2%
0.1%
 +100.00%
Hispanic
3.7%
3.5%
 +5.71%
Asian
0.7%
0.6%
 +16.67%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
2%
2.2%
 -9.09%
Other
0%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Lee County, Iowa by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 43.2 -0.23% 41.7 0% 45 0%
2020 43.3 +0.46% 41.7 +0.48% 45 -0.22%
2019 43.1 -0.23% 41.5 +0.73% 45.1 -0.44%
2018 43.2 -0.23% 41.2 +0.49% 45.3 +0.44%
2017 43.3 - 41 - 45.1 -

The median age of Lee County, Iowa gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 2,104 -4.8% 2,180 -9.28% 2,003 1,984
10 to 19 2,179 -5.47% 1,766 +6% 2,062 1,872
20 to 29 2,101 -1.46% 1,908 -3.47% 2,070 1,841
30 to 39 2,155 -6.25% 1,845 -7.27% 2,023 1,713
40 to 49 2,096 0.16% 1,960 -5.41% 2,093 1,856
50 to 59 2,729 -18.6% 2,639 -8.86% 2,255 2,412
60 to 69 2,367 +12.3% 2,307 +2.87% 2,667 2,373
70+ 1,822 +2.48% 2,627 +0.48% 1,861 2,639

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Lee County, Iowa is $54,258.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Lee County.

  • Under 25
    $37,250.00
  • 25 to 44
    $60,740.00
  • 45 to 64
    $63,777.00
  • 65 and over
    $40,013.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Lee County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Lee County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Lee County, Iowa is currently $68,709.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

3.00% of households in Lee County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Lee County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    20.78%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    25.64%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    19.88%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.47%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    13.47%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    3.75%
  • $200,000 or more
    3.00%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Lee County is $28,995.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Lee County by the total population of Lee County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Lee County, Iowa, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Lee County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    7.35%
  • Bachelor's degree
    23.13%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    14.08%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    53.42%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.02%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Lee County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Lee County over the age of 16 is 27,244.

Of those people, a total of 59.50% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Lee County is 56.60%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 1,441 56.80% 13.90%
20 to 24 years 1,788 74.90% 5.30%
25 to 29 years 2,123 75.40% 9.90%
30 to 34 years 1,813 83.30% 1.10%
35 to 44 years 3,980 83.30% 4.80%
45 to 54 years 4,020 79.60% 3.40%
55 to 59 years 2,539 71.10% 5.10%
60 to 64 years 2,671 60.20% 3.40%
65 to 74 years 4,215 20.50% 1.40%
75 years and over 2,654 5.80% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Lee County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 25,499 60.50% 4.60%
Black or African American 761 33.50% 25.90%
American Indian and Alaska Native 65 27.70% 0.00%
Asian 163 92.00% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 125 100.00% 0.00%
Two or more races 631 38.00% 4.20%
Hispanic or Latino 969 51.10% 11.70%
Not Hispanic or Latino 24,871 60.60% 4.40%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Lee County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Lee County is 15,409, with median earnings of $36,344.00.

Women in Lee County, Iowa earning approximately 60.30% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 15,409 $36,344.00
Male 8,209 $44,501.00
Female 7,200 $26,830.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 1,934 $51,384.00
Business and Financial 352 $48,269.00
Computer and Mathematical 86 $54,500.00
Architecture and Engineering 258 $74,231.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 76 $53,333.00
Community and Social Service 346 $38,929.00
Legal 87 $44,955.00
Educational and Library 837 $23,239.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 68 $13,500.00
Healthcare Practitioners 1,028 $46,418.00
Healthcare Support 681 $19,208.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 103 $39,135.00
Law Enforcement 224 $65,303.00
Food Preparation and Serving 826 $9,415.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 644 $17,222.00
Personal Care and Service 459 $13,715.00
Sales 1,141 $26,378.00
Office and Administrative Support 1,490 $33,066.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 129 $38,263.00
Construction and Extraction 724 $38,800.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 835 $45,875.00
Production 1,682 $43,036.00
Transportation and Material Moving 580 $40,932.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 1,193 $58,480.00 741 $36,094.00
Business and Financial 144 $63,438.00 208 $37,296.00
Computer and Mathematical 43 $63,295.00 43 $51,518.00
Architecture and Engineering 223 $76,691.00 35 $38,385.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 17 $64,063.00 59 $52,951.00
Community and Social Service 71 $24,965.00 275 $39,821.00
Legal 54 $44,762.00 33 $47,969.00
Educational and Library 126 $60,357.00 711 $20,433.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 15 $50,156.00 53 $11,641.00
Healthcare Practitioners 133 $52,344.00 895 $45,130.00
Healthcare Support 38 $25,909.00 643 $18,875.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 66 $34,074.00 37 $43,359.00
Law Enforcement 179 $67,008.00 45 $52,917.00
Food Preparation and Serving 283 $6,712.00 543 $10,099.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 409 $23,977.00 235 $14,980.00
Personal Care and Service 127 $11,217.00 332 $17,125.00
Sales 646 $46,346.00 495 $11,971.00
Office and Administrative Support 307 $37,277.00 1,183 $30,625.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 121 $38,393.00 8 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 699 $40,021.00 25 $14,844.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 815 $46,875.00 20 $31,250.00
Production 1,312 $45,661.00 370 $34,750.00
Transportation and Material Moving 528 $41,229.00 52 $12,813.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 14,068 households in Lee County, with an average household size of 2.31 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 9,074 families in Lee County with an average family size of 2.84 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 6,991 770 1,313 4,994
Average Household Size 2.88 2.99 3.14 1.2
Total Families 6,991 770 1,313 0
Average Household Size 2.87 2.44 2.91 0

Poverty

Of the 9,074 families in Lee County, 8.80% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Lee County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 15,913 housing units in Lee County, Iowa.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 14,068 88.41%
Vacant 1,845 11.59%

19.93% of the total 15,913 housing units in Lee County are rental units. This is approximately 3,172 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 10,703 are occupied by the owner - or 67.26% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Lee County is $762.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Lee County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    193
  • Less than $500
    655
  • $500 to $999
    1,782
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    634
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    71
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    0
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    11
  • $3,000 or more
    19

Property Value

The median value of a property in Lee County is $102,800.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Lee County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    1,795
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    3,449
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    1,627
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    1,358
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    1,591
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    629
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    213
  • $1,000,000 or more
    41

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Lee County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Lee County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    6,128
  • 1940 to 1949
    815
  • 1950 to 1959
    1,826
  • 1960 to 1969
    1,409
  • 1970 to 1979
    2,202
  • 1980 to 1989
    889
  • 1990 to 1999
    1,165
  • 2000 to 2009
    1,018
  • 2010 to 2013
    451
  • 2014 or later
    10

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Lee County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    686
  • 1 vehicle available
    4,146
  • 2 vehicles available
    5,209
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    4,027

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Lee County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Lee County that commute to work in a particular way.

18.6 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Lee County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    1,342
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    2,848
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    2,364
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    2,183
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    1,583
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    1,132
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    1,027
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    415
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    293
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    709
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    357
  • 90 or more minutes
    167

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Lee County, Iowa in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Lee County, Iowa

We have data for 22 places in Lee County, Iowa. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.