County profile
Howard County, IA
United States · GDP 2024
#2108 of 3,127 US counties by GDP42nd-percentile growthmore diversified than 10% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$727.4M
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+3.7%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
3,350
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
270
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$47.4k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
9,415
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
2.6%
Median HH income
$67.4k±$7.9k
Bachelor's degree+
19.5%±2.5%
Poverty rate
8.9%±2.4%
Business applications
84 · 2025
Retail establishments
52
55.1/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Manufacturing47%
Health care22%
Retail trade16%
Wholesale trade5%
Other services5%
Construction5%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
9,415
residents · 2025 · -0.8% since 2020
Income per capita $66.8k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration−137
International migration+54
Natural change+8
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$456.3M2019
$457.2M2020
$585.1M2021
$688.5M2022
$701.7M2023
$727.4M2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$147.8k±$14.9k
Median gross rent
$713/mo±$28/mo
Vacancy rate
12.7%±4.2%
Affordability
3.1× wages
Residential permits
$1.4M
6 units · 0.6/1k pop
FEMA risk score
15.6
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$919/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Drought 78Hail 60Strong wind 48
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
1582016
1692017
1782018
1872019
1962020
2082021
2332022
2422023
2662024
2902025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↓ -33% since 202192021
22022
62023
82024
62025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
49.8 km
I-90
Nearest freight rail
32.1 km
CPKC
Nearest port
90.2 km
DAIRYLAND POWER COOPERATIVE, GENOA PLANT NO. 3 WHARF
Nearest commercial airport
63.1 km
ROCHESTER INTL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$47.4k
avg. annual pay · +26% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Howard?
Howard's economy produced $727.4M in 2024, growing 3.7% year over year — about the middle of the pack among US counties. Its largest employment sector is manufacturing.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.