Publication summarizes current demographic and population trends for Iowa’s metro, micropolitan, and rural areas. Easy to understand charts show trends between 2013 to 2023. Purpose is to quickly inform policymakers and the public about key issues facing Iowa. Indicators include: population, births and deaths, migration, age structure, and race and ethnicity.

Publication summarizes current employment and income trends for Iowa’s metro, micropolitan, and rural areas. Easy to understand charts show trends between 2012 to 2022. Purpose is to quickly inform policymakers and the public about key issues facing Iowa. Indicators include: household income, poverty, labor force participation, unemployment, jobs, self-employed businesses, farm businesses, jobs by industry, earnings, earnings by industry, and gross domestic product by industry.

Summarizing current farm trends by farm size class and farm production specialty this publication also contains easy to understand charts showing trends between 2012 to 2022. Using this data, policymakers and the public can be quickly informed about key issues facing Iowa.

Indicators include: number of farms, farmland acres, agricultural production value, net farm income, household income for farm families including off-farm sources, debt to asset ratios, and debt repayment capacity utilization rates.

Publication summarizes inflation trends for rural households in the U.S., as well as comparisons with urban households. Rural inflation costs are tracked by month and by expense for 2021 and 2022. Inflation has cost the typical rural household $8,120. Transportation costs fueled rural inflation over the past two years, but during 2022 rural people also had to contend with growing costs for housing, household expenses, food at home, and health insurance.

Opioid use is a growing issue in both rural and urban settings in the United States. The U.S. makes up only four percent of the world population, but 27 percent of drug overdose deaths. Understanding the geographic distribution and characteristics of opioid deaths in Iowa is essential to effectively addressing this crisis.

This publication compares the existing conditions of the opioid epidemic in Iowa to surrounding states, conditions related to the opioid crisis across Iowa counties and provides strategies and resources to address opioid abuse in Iowa communities.

Leading Communities guides you toward:

• Understanding your community
• Identifying local issues
• Making community decisions
• Building social collaboration
• Working together effectively
• Making it happen!

Data for Decision Makers reports can be generated by visiting the ISU Extension and Outreach Indicators Portal.

This publication helps community development specialists prepare for collaborative community assessment activities. It discusses characteristics of such an assessment, steps involved, and practical implications.