Palo, Iowa demographics

Palo, IA demographics: median age 32.7; 27.2% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Palo city, Iowa · Incorporated city · GEOID 1961230. The survey estimates a population of 1,438 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Palo is 32.7 years, with a 90% margin of error of 3.4 years. There are 476 households (±82). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	32.7 ±3.4	38.6 ±0.2	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 1,438
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
Under 18	508 ±101	35.3% ±2.6 pp	22.9%	22.0%
18–34	265 ±66	18.4% ±3.1 pp	22.5%	22.8%
35–64	563 ±97	39.2% ±9.9 pp	36.5%	38.0%
65 and older	102 ±43	7.1% ±2.7 pp	18.1%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 1,438
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
Male	736 ±134	51.2% ±13.3 pp	50.2%	49.5%
Female	702 ±146	48.8% ±4.7 pp	49.8%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 1,438
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
White alone	1,356 ±247	94.3% ±24.4 pp	84.1%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	16 ±24 · low precision	1.1% ±1.7 pp · low precision	3.9%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.7 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.9%
Asian alone	3 ±6 · low precision	0.2% ±0.4 pp · low precision	2.5%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.7 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.2%
Some other race alone	3 ±7 · low precision	0.2% ±0.5 pp · low precision	2.4%	7.1%
Two or more races	60 ±52 · low precision	4.2% ±3.5 pp · low precision	6.6%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 1,438
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	1,430 ±264	99.4% ±1.1 pp	92.7%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	8 ±9 · low precision	0.6% ±0.6 pp · low precision	7.3%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 476
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
Married-couple family	300 ±63	63.0% ±7.6 pp	48.3%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	46 ±29 · low precision	9.7% ±5.9 pp · low precision	4.3%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	26 ±22 · low precision	5.5% ±4.5 pp · low precision	9.0%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	33 ±22 · low precision	6.9% ±4.5 pp · low precision	30.9%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	71 ±46 · low precision	14.9% ±9.3 pp · low precision	7.6%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 476
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
Households with people under 18	264 ±62	55.5% ±8.9 pp	28.5%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	212 ±49	44.5% ±6.9 pp	71.5%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 476
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	33 ±22 · low precision	6.9% ±4.5 pp · low precision	30.9%	28.7%
Two-person households	168 ±50	35.3% ±8.6 pp	36.3%	33.8%
Three-person households	104 ±44	21.8% ±8.3 pp	12.9%	15.3%
Four-person households	107 ±41	22.5% ±7.7 pp	11.4%	12.6%
Five-person households	53 ±32 · low precision	11.1% ±6.4 pp · low precision	5.6%	5.9%
Six-person households	10 ±18 · low precision	2.1% ±3.8 pp · low precision	1.9%	2.2%
Seven or more people	1 ±10 · low precision	0.2% ±2.2 pp · low precision	1.0%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 1,438
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
Native	1,419 ±261	98.7% ±25.7 pp	94.1%	85.9%
Foreign born	19 ±21 · low precision	1.3% ±1.4 pp · low precision	5.9%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 1,274
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
English only	1,255 ±231	98.5% ±1.2 pp	90.9%	77.7%
Spanish	4 ±6 · low precision	0.3% ±0.5 pp · low precision	4.7%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	3 ±5 · low precision	0.2% ±0.4 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.6%	2.0%
Korean	2 ±4 · low precision	0.2% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.3%	1.1%
Vietnamese	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	10 ±18 · low precision	0.8% ±1.4 pp · low precision	1.0%	1.1%
Arabic	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 881
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	16 ±38 · low precision	1.8% ±4.3 pp · low precision	6.7%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	342 ±85	38.8% ±7.0 pp	30.0%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	177 ±54	20.1% ±5.0 pp	19.7%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	106 ±36	12.0% ±3.5 pp	12.1%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	194 ±57	22.0% ±5.3 pp	20.9%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	46 ±27 · low precision	5.2% ±2.9 pp · low precision	10.5%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 1,395
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Iowa	U.S.
Same house	1,286 ±257	92.2% ±6.8 pp	87.1%	87.7%
Moved within same county	65 ±33 · low precision	4.7% ±2.2 pp	6.7%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	32 ±27 · low precision	2.3% ±1.9 pp · low precision	3.7%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	12 ±14 · low precision	0.9% ±1.0 pp · low precision	2.2%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	0 ±10 · low precision	0.0% ±0.7 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

1.9% of Palo residents (±1.7 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 5.0% in Iowa and 8.4% nationally. 97.5% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Palo	Iowa	U.S.	Compared with Iowa
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	1.9% ±1.7 pp · low precision	5.0%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	97.5% ±3.8 pp	88.9%	91.0%	Higher
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	5.7% ±3.2 pp · low precision	6.5%	6.2%	Not statistically different

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Palo . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Palo housing and cost context or return to the city profile.