HOWARD County, IA

Howard County is a county located in the US state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,469. The county seat is Cresco. The county was founded in 1851; it was named for General Tilghman Ashurst Howard, a Representative of Indiana.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.08%) is water.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2020 census

The 2020 census recorded a population of 9,469 in the county, with a population density of . 96.75% of the population reported being of one race. 91.69% were non-Hispanic White, 0.24% were Black, 2.72% were Hispanic, 0.51% were Native American, 0.29% were Asian, 0.07% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and 4.48% were some other race or more than one race. There were 4,314 housing units, of which 3,945 were occupied.

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 9,566 in the county, with a population density of . There were 4,367 housing units, of which 3,944 were occupied.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 9,932 people, 3,974 households and 2,650 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 per square mile (8/km²). There were 4,327 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 99.06% White, 0.11% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.08% from other races, and 0.42% from two or more races. 0.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,974 households, of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.03.

26.30% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.3 males.

The median household income was $34,641 and the median family income was $43,284. Males had a median income of $28,856 compared $21,367 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,842. About 5.6% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Events

The Mighty Howard County Fair is held annually in Cresco, in the last full week of June. This celebration originated in 1858, and three fairs were celebrated before being interrupted by the American Civil War. They resumed from 1866 through 1899, and were resumed in 1923 under aegis of the present directorship.

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

Townships

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Howard County.

† county seat

Notable people

Politics

Howard County is the only county in the nation to vote for Obama by more than 20 points in 2012 and then Trump by more than 20 points in 2016. Because of this, it is sometimes incorrectly noted as the county with the biggest swing from Democrat to Republican between 2012 and 2016, swinging by 41 percentage points. However, there were other counties with higher swings, such as Elliott County, Kentucky, which swung 23.6% towards the Republicans (A percentage change of 46.3). In 2020, Republican Donald Trump won the county with the highest percentage of votes of any candidate since Warren G. Harding won the county in 1920.