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Anamosa, Iowa

Anamosa is a small town of about 5,900 people in Jones County, Iowa. It's the county seat. It has grown about 8% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Milwaukee, is about 181 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
5,901
up 8.3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$172,600
Jones County prices up 16% since 2022
Household income
$60,650
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Cedar Rapids area
89
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Jones Regional Medical Center
To Milwaukee
181 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11% below the U.S. average in the Cedar Rapids metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood4 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.7 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 3.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byJones Regional Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMilwaukee is about 181 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Anamosa meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$172,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 16%Jones County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$966 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$60,650U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
72%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,916 a yearIowa: $2,897
Homes built before 1940
20%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
89U.S. average = 100 (the Cedar Rapids metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 16% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Cedar Rapids metro area, not Anamosa alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
5,9012020: 5,449
Median age
40.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
18%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (26%); retail (17%); manufacturing (11%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
27 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
19%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Jones Regional Medical Center, Anamosa, IA, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Mercy Medical Center - Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids, IA, about 22 miles away. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Anamosa, run by Anamosa Comm School District.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Iowa's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
70%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
86%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
9°F
July average high
83°F
Days 90°F or hotter
13 a year
Nights at or below freezing
152 a year
Rain and melted snow
38.8 inches a year
Snow
34 inches a year
Elevation
837 feet

Weather stations: Anamosa 1 WNW (1 mile away) and Cedar Rapids #1 (17 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Cedar Rapids, Milwaukee.

Jones County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Anamosa Main Street Historic District, the Iowa Men's Reformatory Historic District, John A. Green Estate and State Quarry, Iowa Men's Reformatory.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Herbert Hoover National Historic Site30 miles
  • Effigy Mounds National Monument57 miles

Read about Anamosa's history on Wikipedia.

Know Anamosa?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Stone City, IA (unincorporated)154 people, 4 miles
  • Martelle, IA249 people, 7 miles
  • Center Junction, IA (unincorporated)126 people, 9 miles
  • Olin, IA656 people, 10 miles
  • Prairieburg, IA156 people, 12 miles
  • Onslow, IA197 people, 13 miles
  • Mechanicsville, IA977 people, 14 miles
  • Wyoming, IA530 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.