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Towns / Iowa

Brooklyn, Iowa

Brooklyn is a small town of about 1,500 people in Poweshiek County, Iowa. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.9 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, Omaha, is about 190 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,467
down 2.3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$137,100
Poweshiek County prices up 13% since 2022
Household income
$73,438
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Iowa
84.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
15 miles
Grinnell, IA
To Omaha
190 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 15.9% below the U.S. average in the parts of Iowa outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Brooklyn itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byGrinnell Regional Medical Center in Grinnell, about 15 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityOmaha is about 190 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 Brooklyn 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
$137,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 13%Poweshiek County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$832 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$73,438U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
72%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,995 a yearIowa: $2,897
Homes built before 1940
46%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
84.1U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Iowa outside metro areas)

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 13% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Iowa outside metro areas, not Brooklyn 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
1,4672020: 1,501
Median age
36.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
29%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
16%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%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
Manufacturing (17%); schools, health care and social services (17%); construction (16%)
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
12%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
22%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Grinnell, IA, about 15 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 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

2 public schools in Brooklyn, run by Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom 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
72%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
10°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
14 a year
Nights at or below freezing
153 a year
Rain and melted snow
37.7 inches a year
Snow
30 inches a year
Elevation
896 feet

Weather stations: Belle Plaine (14 miles away) and Brooklyn (1 mile 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: Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Cedar Rapids, Omaha.

Poweshiek County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Kent Union Chapel and Cemetery.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Herbert Hoover National Historic Site56 miles

Read about Brooklyn's history on Wikipedia.

Know Brooklyn?

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

  • Malcom, IA259 people, 6 miles
  • Holiday Lake, IA (unincorporated)397 people, 6 miles
  • Victor, IA855 people, 8 miles
  • Deep River, IA245 people, 11 miles
  • Chelsea, IA208 people, 13 miles
  • Ladora, IA223 people, 13 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.