Poweshiek County, Iowa

Poweshiek County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 18,662. The county seat is Montezuma. The county is named for the chief of the Meskwaki who signed the treaty ending the Black Hawk War. It lies along Interstate 80 between Des Moines and Iowa City. Poweshiek County's largest city is Grinnell.

WWW poweshiekcounty.org

History

Poweshiek County was formed in 1843. It was named for, a chief of the Meskwaki people. The Poweshiek County Courthouse, completed in 1859, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Government and infrastructure

County business is overseen by three elected county supervisors. The county website provides names and contact information for the current supervisors.

Poweshiek County Elected Officials

County Supervisors: Chairman Jeff Tindle, Vice-Chair Jason Roudabush, Jacki Bolen
County Attorney: Bart Klaver
County Auditor: Missy Eilander
County Recorder: Lora Wyckoff
County Sheriff: Matt Maschmann
County Treasurer: Sandy Ross

Healthcare

Poweshiek County is served by Grinnell Regional Medical Center, an acute care hospital licensed for 81 beds. GRMC was established in 1967 after the merger of two hospitals.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is drained by the north fork of Skunk River, which crosses the southwest corner, and by English River and other streams.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 18,662. The median age was 40.7 years, 19.4% of residents were under the age of 18, and 21.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.0 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 92.2% White, 1.8% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.9% from some other race, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.8% of the population. Overall, 96.55% of the county's population reported being of one race.
50.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 49.2% lived in rural areas.
There were 7,536 households in the county, of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.9% were married-couple households, 18.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 8,906 housing units, of which 15.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 71.7% were owner-occupied and 28.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.3%.

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	17,004	91.11%
Black or African American	320	1.7%
Native American	53	0.3%
Asian	221	1.2%
Pacific Islander	21	0.11%
Other/Mixed	514	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	529	2.83%

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 18,914 in the county, with a population density of. There were 8,949 housing units, of which 7,555 were occupied.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,815 people, 7,398 households, and 4,882 families in the county. The population density was. There were 8,556 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 96.74% White, 0.55% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.07% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.49% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. 1.20% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the 7,398 households 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% were non-families. 29.2% of households were one person and 13.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.88.
The age distribution was 22.7% under the age of 18, 12.8% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.
The median household income was $37,836 and the median family income was $46,599. Males had a median income of $32,781 versus $22,465 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,629. About 6.2% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Poweshiek County is served by three community school districts:

District	Location	Num of campuses	Num of students	Student– teacher ratio	High school	District web site
BGM Community School District	Brooklyn	1	532	-	BGM
Grinnell–Newburg Community School District	Grinnell	6	1,475	-	Grinnell
Montezuma Community School District	Montezuma	1	537	-	Montezuma

Poweshiek County is home to Grinnell College, a small liberal arts college founded in 1846.
There is one private school in the county, Central Iowa Christian School, in Grinnell.

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

Population

Political Townships

Census-designated places

Holiday Lake

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 United States census.
† county seat

Rank	City/town/etc.	Municipal type	Population
1	Grinnell	City	9,564
2	Brooklyn	City	1,502
3	† 'Montezuma	City	1,442
4	Victor	City	875
5	Holiday Lake	CDP	473
6	Malcom	City	270
7	Deep River	City	249
8	Barnes City	City	156
9	Searsboro	City	129
10	Hartwick	City	92
11	Guernsey'	City	63