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Towns / Iowa

Evansdale, Iowa

Evansdale is a suburb of about 4,500 people in Black Hawk County, Iowa, in the Waterloo area. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.5 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 180 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Waterloo

Population
4,463
down 2.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$150,300
Black Hawk County prices up 16% since 2022
Household income
$60,397
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Waterloo area
87.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
4 miles
Waterloo, IA
To Minneapolis
180 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12.9% below the U.S. average in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood7 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 16.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is East High School, about 4 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMercyone Waterloo Medical Center in Waterloo, about 4 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMinneapolis is about 180 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 Evansdale 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.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Evansdale runs into the built-up area around Waterloo (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$150,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 16%Black Hawk County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$979 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$60,397U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
61%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,875 a yearIowa: $2,897
Homes built before 1940
2%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
87.1U.S. average = 100 (the Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area, not Evansdale 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
4,4632020: 4,557
Median age
42.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
10%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%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 (18%); construction (17%); manufacturing (17%)
Average commute
15 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
24%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Mercyone Waterloo Medical Center, Waterloo, IA, about 4 miles away. It's a general hospital. 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

2 public schools in Evansdale, run by Waterloo Comm School District. The nearest public high school is East High School, about 4 miles away.

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
66%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
85%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
11°F
July average high
85°F
Days 90°F or hotter
15 a year
Nights at or below freezing
150 a year
Rain and melted snow
36.3 inches a year
Snow
39 inches a year
Elevation
838 feet

Weather station: Waterloo Muni Ap (9 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: Mercyone Waterloo Medical Center, Waterloo, Minneapolis.

Black Hawk County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

Read about Evansdale's history on Wikipedia.

Know Evansdale?

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

  • Raymond, IA748 people, 2 miles
  • Washburn, IA (unincorporated)714 people, 4 miles
  • Gilbertville, IA786 people, 4 miles
  • Dunkerton, IA835 people, 9 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.