The town that has most recently been named the poorest in Iowa is Oelwein. According to 24/7 Wall St. and other recent reports, Oelwein—located in Fayette County—has a median household income of $41,629, a poverty rate of 17.5%, and only 13.7% of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher as of 2022.
This is significantly lower than the state median household income of around $70,571 and a higher poverty rate than the state average.
It is important to note that other rankings may use different criteria or population thresholds, and sometimes other towns (like Denison) are highlighted for high poverty rates or challenging living conditions.
However, for the specific designation of “poorest town” (with populations between 1,000 and 25,000), Oelwein is the most consistently cited.
If the criteria are expanded to include larger cities, Clinton is sometimes cited as the poorest city in Iowa, but for towns within the stated population range, Oelwein holds the title
Sources
[1] https://khak.com/eastern-iowa-is-home-to-the-poorest-city-town-in-the-state/
[2] https://www.iowadatacenter.org/index.php/data-by-source/american-community-survey/poverty-rates-iowa-counties
[3] https://westerniowatoday.com/2022/12/01/clinton-named-the-poorest-city-in-iowa/
[4] https://hdpulse.nimhd.nih.gov/data-portal/_social/poverty/table?statefips=19&demo=00007
[5] https://eagle1023fm.com/?p=125278
