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Sioux Center, Iowa

Sioux Center is a small town of about 8,900 people in Sioux County, Iowa. It has grown about 8% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.1 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 125 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
8,864
up 7.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$290,800
Sioux County prices up 26% since 2022
Household income
$92,983
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Iowa
84.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Sioux Center Health
To Omaha
125 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 3.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close bySioux Center Health is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityOmaha is about 125 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 Sioux Center 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
$290,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 26%Sioux County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$92,983U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
75%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,954 a yearIowa: $2,897
Homes built before 1940
11%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
20%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%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 26% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Iowa outside metro areas, not Sioux Center 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
8,8642020: 8,240
Median age
30 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
26%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
42%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%U.S.: 6%
College students
15%share of all residents

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 (14%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (13%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
12 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
12%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
2%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Sioux Center Health, Sioux Center, IA, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: St. Lukes Regional Medical Center, Sioux City, IA, about 40 miles away. 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

5 public schools in Sioux Center, run by Sioux Center Comm School District.

Colleges in or next to town: Dordt University (1,000 to 4,999 students).

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
73%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
94%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
85°F
Days 90°F or hotter
22 a year
Nights at or below freezing
154 a year
Rain and melted snow
29.9 inches a year
Snow
35 inches a year
Elevation
1,442 feet

Weather station: Sioux Ctr 2 SE (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: Sioux City, Omaha.

Sioux 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

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Missouri National Recreational River38 miles

Campus life. Check Dordt University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Sioux Center's history on Wikipedia.

Know Sioux Center?

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

  • Maurice, IA267 people, 8 miles
  • Ireton, IA567 people, 10 miles
  • Boyden, IA688 people, 12 miles
  • Hospers, IA691 people, 14 miles
  • Doon, IA640 people, 14 miles
  • Hudson, SD342 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.