Story City, IA population, income and ZIP codes

Story City city is a small town in Iowa, with 3,363 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #114 of 1,026 ranked by population — larger than 88% of them. The median age here is 44.6 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Story City city earn a median of $73,558 a year, 6.3% below the national figure of $78,538 and 9% above the $67,791 median for the 290 Iowa cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 13.1% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Story City city is valued at $205,800, 32.2% below the national figure and 32% above 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 15.6% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.8×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 74.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. 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.