by Willis Goudy
Professor of sociology
Iowa State University Extension to Communities
Contrary to popular opinion, the number of towns in Iowa has not changed much during the last half century. In 1940, 931 incorporated places were counted. This increased to a high of 955 in the 1980 census. Two fewer places were noted as of 1990, and one more (Oonnan) disincorporated between 1990 and 1994.
Every two years, the U.S. Bureau of the Census releases estimates of the number of residents of all incorporated places in the United States. These are places that are officially recognized as local governmental units by the states in which they exist. Recently, the numbers for 1994 were provided for Iowa's towns.
Nearly six of every 10 of Iowa's 952 incorporated places gained population from 1990 to 1994. This represents a strong reversal of the trend that occurred in the 1980s, when the number of residents declined in eight of every 10 Iowa towns. Cities and townsÑin addition to those living on farmsÑwere affected by the farm crisis in the 1980s. The 1990-1994 pattern is more similar to that of the 1970s, when two-thirds of the towns grew. Thus, Iowa's communities have returned to the growth pattern that has been observed many decades this century.
In the last 50 years, some size categories lost towns while others gained. For example, 673 places now have fewer than 1,000 residents; 715 towns of this size were counted in 1940, so the drop was 42 towns among those under 1,000 in population. That does not mean that small towns were going out of existence, however. Indeed, the most common reason for the decline in the number of small towns was population gain above the level of 1,000.
This is evident when the numbers of towns with 1,000 to 10,000 residents are examined; 195 existed in 1940 while there are 248 today, or a gain of 53. Some of these were new places during this period, but most had fewer than 1,000 residents at some point but grew into the 1,000-10,000 size category from 1940 to 1990. Thirty-one places have more than 10,000 residents today; only 21 were of this size a half century ago.
The 1994 estimates do not support the suggestion that allÑor even the majorityÑof Iowa's small towns are experiencing population declines. Among those with fewer than 1,000 residents in 1990, 352 were estimated to have gained residents, 23 remained the same, and 284 declined to 1994. Even among Iowa's smallest placesÑthose with fewer than 100 residentsÑ35 of the 91 were estimated to have grown from 1990 to 1994.
In Iowa's 30 places with at least 10,000 residents in 1990, 24 reported increases as of 1994. A total of 183 of the 243 places with 1,000 to 10,000 residents in 1990 increased their populations as of the 1994 estimate.
More than three-quarters of all Iowans lived in incorporated places in 1994. The percentage has been increasing slowly over recent decades. In 1940, 61 percent were living in Iowa's cities and towns while the figure was 77 percent in 1994.
About 240,000 people resided in Iowa's 673 towns with populations less than 1,000 in 1994. More than 300,000 residents lived in the two cities with populations exceeding 100,000 in the state. Thus, although Iowa has many small towns, when taken together such places account for relatively few residentsÑabout one in eight inhabitants of the state. In contrast, more than a quarter of all Iowans live in the eight cities with at least 50,000 residents.
Estimates are subject to error, of course. They are not counts. Rather, the census bureau uses information on migration patterns and on births and deaths to estimate changes that have occurred in incorporated places. Unfortunately, births and deaths are available for counties only, so the bureau cannot apply those numbers to specific towns. Rather, they are spread across a county as part of the bureau's estimating procedure. For this and other reasons, exercise caution in using the estimates. This is especially true in Iowa's many small towns, because chances for errors increase with decreasing size of place.
County Iowa State University Extension offices have a report that lists each incorporated place in the state, the 1994 estimates, population counts from censuses conducted from 1850 through 1990, and some summary tables. This 21-page publication is entitled "Population (1850-1990) and Population Estimates (1994) for Incorporated Places in Iowa" (Willis Goudy and Sandra Charvat Burke, CS95-4, October 1995, Census Services, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011).
Contacts:
Terry L. Besser, ISU
Extension Sociology, (515) 294-6508
Del Marks, ISU Extension
Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807
