What is the population of Ottumwa city?

Ottumwa city has 25,352 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #19 of 1,026 in Iowa.

What is the median household income in Ottumwa city?

Median household income in Ottumwa city is $56,994 a year, 27.4% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Ottumwa city?

Median gross rent is $956 a month and the median home value is $92,400, so rent absorbs about 20.1% of median household income.

Is Ottumwa city affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 1.6× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Ottumwa city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 20.1% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

Aerial view of a dense city center, illustrating the US cities ZIP code directory

Iowa · Census place 60465

Ottumwa, IA population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Ottumwa, Iowa (Ottumwa, IA — Census place “Ottumwa city”) is 25,352 residents, ranking #19 of 1026 places in Iowa. Median household income is $56,994, the median home is worth $92,400 and median gross rent runs $956 a month. Looking for the Ottumwa Iowa ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Ottumwa, IA: 52501.

Population: 25,352Ottumwa city residents
Median household income: $56,994Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $92,400Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $956Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 37.4 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 61.2%Owner-occupied households

Ottumwa ZIP codes (Iowa)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Ottumwa.

The Ottumwa IA ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

52501

What the numbers mean in Ottumwa city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Ottumwa city median would spend about 20.1% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 1.6× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 18.9% of residents and 61.2% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Ottumwa city, IA in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Ottumwa city is a small city in Iowa, with 25,352 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #19 of 1,026 ranked by population — larger than 98% of them. The median age here is 37.4 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Ottumwa city earn a median of $56,994 a year, 27.4% below the national figure of $78,538 and 16% below the $67,791 median for the 290 Iowa cities we cover. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 18.9% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in Ottumwa city is valued at $92,400, 69.5% below the national figure and 41% below the $156,300 peer median, while median gross rent runs $956 a month, 32% below the national figure, or roughly $11,472 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 20.1% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 1.6×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 61.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

Compare with nearby places

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Ottumwa city?: Ottumwa city has 25,352 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #19 of 1,026 in Iowa.
What is the median household income in Ottumwa city?: Median household income in Ottumwa city is $56,994 a year, 27.4% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Ottumwa city?: Median gross rent is $956 a month and the median home value is $92,400, so rent absorbs about 20.1% of median household income.
Is Ottumwa city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 1.6× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Ottumwa city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 20.1% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Ottumwa city data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.