Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Iowa

Tripoli, Iowa

Tripoli is a small town of about 1,200 people in Bremer County, Iowa. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.5 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 157 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,208
up 1.3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$120,500
Bremer County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$78,324
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Waterloo area
87.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
8 miles
Sumner, IA
To Minneapolis
157 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 1.5 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 Tripoli 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 byCommunity Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Sumner, about 8 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMinneapolis is about 157 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 Tripoli 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
$120,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Bremer County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$940 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$78,324U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$2,038 a yearIowa: $2,897
Homes built before 1940
43%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 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area, not Tripoli 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
1,2082020: 1,192
Median age
47.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
25%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
17%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
29%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%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 (26%); retail (13%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
27 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
3%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Community Memorial Hospital Medical Center, Sumner, IA, about 8 miles away. 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: Allen Hospital, Waterloo, IA, about 20 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 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 Tripoli, run by Tripoli 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.

Weather

January average low
7°F
July average high
83°F
Days 90°F or hotter
11 a year
Nights at or below freezing
158 a year
Rain and melted snow
40.6 inches a year
Snow
38 inches a year
Elevation
1,024 feet

Weather stations: Tripoli (less than a mile away) and New Hampton (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: Community Memorial Hospital Medical Center, Waterloo, Minneapolis.

Bremer 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

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Effigy Mounds National Monument55 miles

Read about Tripoli's history on Wikipedia.

Know Tripoli?

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

  • Frederika, IA207 people, 6 miles
  • Readlyn, IA860 people, 7 miles
  • Fredericksburg, IA979 people, 11 miles
  • Westgate, IA187 people, 14 miles
  • Plainfield, IA394 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.