(Radio Iowa) – A report just released from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) takes a deeper look into its 2025 findings that Iowa’s population growth remains mostly concentrated in metro areas. Research and policy director Ben Murrey says there’s just one positive growth marker for non-metro counties. “Non-metro Iowa has net positive for international migration, but they are net negative for net births and for domestic migration,” Murrey says. Murrey says most of the people moving to metro counties fit one profile.
“It tends to be younger people who are moving here in that 18 to 34 group. Tends to be that we gain on net people that are in poverty or near poverty in the metro areas. We tend to lose on net in the metro areas people with a bachelor’s degree,” he says. Murrey says the metro areas can offer more job opportunities for younger people. He says the older people moving into the non-metro counties have more resources.
“Your more established residents, people who are mid-career, not as likely to be in poverty, maybe more likely to actually have a higher level of education,” he says. “They, for some reason, are kind of drawn to non-metro Iowa. That doesn’t necessarily mean super rural, but they seem to want to get out of the metro centers if they can.” And they have the ability to do that at this point in their career. Murrey says this type of migration to non-metro counties should be something businesses look at.
“If I’m a business who is setting up shop here in Iowa or maybe thinking about opening a new hub somewhere, maybe it makes sense to start looking a little bit more at non-metro Iowa because those areas, it seems, are attracting mid-career, a little bit more educated, established residents,” Murrey says. Murrey says the number of older people moving out of metro counties isn’t enough to boost the population in non-metro areas. And he says the birth trend is not easy to change.
“Now that net births in non-metro Iowa has turned negative, that’s not a trend that is going to turn around anytime soon,” he says. Murrey says the birth trends happen on a decade-long basis.
Only three counties grew by more than one percent (1%) in 2025: Dallas County (3.2%), Wayne County (1.6%), and Warren County (1.5%). Nine counties declined by at least one percent (1%), led by Clay County, which dropped nearly two percent. (-1.9%).
