West Branch, IA population, income and ZIP codes

West Branch city is a small town in Iowa, with 2,526 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #145 of 1,026 ranked by population — larger than 85% of them. The median age here is 34.7 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger 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 West Branch city earn a median of $87,891 a year, 11.9% above the national figure of $78,538 and 30% above the $67,791 median for the 290 Iowa cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 11.1% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in West Branch city is valued at $226,700, 25.3% below the national figure and 45% above the $156,300 peer median, while median gross rent runs $958 a month, 31.9% below the national figure, or roughly $11,496 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 13.1% 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 2.6×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 78.8% 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.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. 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.