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Cresco, Iowa

Cresco is a small town of about 3,900 people in Howard County, Iowa. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady 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, Minneapolis, is about 124 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
3,925
up 0.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$117,200
Howard County prices up 25% since 2022
Household income
$60,608
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Iowa
84.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Regional Health Services of Howard County
To Minneapolis
124 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 neighborhood6 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.5 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 2.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byRegional Health Services of Howard County is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMinneapolis is about 124 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 Cresco 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
$117,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 25%Howard County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$715 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$60,608U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
75%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,152 a yearIowa: $2,897
Homes built before 1940
37%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
4%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 25% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Iowa outside metro areas, not Cresco 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
3,9252020: 3,902
Median age
38.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
21%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
21%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%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 (30%); manufacturing (25%); retail (18%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
18 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
13%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Regional Health Services of Howard County, Cresco, 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: Olmsted Medical Center, Rochester, MN, about 48 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 Cresco, run by Howard-Winneshiek 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
68%U.S.: 76%

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
6°F
July average high
83°F
Days 90°F or hotter
8 a year
Nights at or below freezing
170 a year
Rain and melted snow
38 inches a year
Snow
40 inches a year
Elevation
1,300 feet

Weather station: Cresco 1 NE (2 miles away). 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: Rochester, Minneapolis.

Howard County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, 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.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Effigy Mounds National Monument48 miles

Read about Cresco's history on Wikipedia.

Know Cresco?

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

  • Ridgeway, IA267 people, 8 miles
  • Lime Springs, IA471 people, 10 miles
  • Protivin, IA263 people, 11 miles
  • Burr Oak, IA (unincorporated)225 people, 14 miles
  • Spillville, IA369 people, 14 miles
  • Canton, MN313 people, 14 miles
  • Chester, IA134 people, 15 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.