Polk City is a somewhat small city located in the state of Iowa. With a population of 6,303 people and just one neighborhood, Polk City is the 74th largest community in Iowa. There's nothing like the smell of a brand new house, and in Polk City, you'll find that a large proportion of houses were recently built. New growth in residential real estate is an indication that people are choosing to move to Polk City, and putting down their money on brand new construction. Polk City’s real estate is, on average, some of the newest in the nation. Polk City does seem to be experiencing an influx of affluent people, because the median household income is $163,000.00.
Polk City real estate is some of the most expensive in Iowa, although Polk City house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.
Polk City is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Polk City is a city of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Polk City who work in management occupations (21.56%), sales jobs (9.05%), and business and financial occupations (9.02%).
Also of interest is that Polk City has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 17.10% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Because of many things, Polk City is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Polk City a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The city’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Polk City has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Polk City’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
As is often the case in a small city, Polk City doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The citizens of Polk City are among the most well-educated in the nation: 47.18% of adults in Polk City have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Polk City in 2022 was $56,787, which is wealthy relative to Iowa and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $227,148 for a family of four. However, Polk City contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Polk City home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Polk City residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Polk City include German, Irish, English, Norwegian, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Polk City is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
A majority of the adults in the neighborhood are wealthy and educated executives. They own stately homes that tend to maintain high real estate appreciation rates. Their upper-level careers keep them busy, but allow them to live comfortably. If you're an executive and want to keep similar company, consider settling in this neighborhood, rated as an executive lifestyle "best choice" neighborhood for Iowa by NeighborhoodScout's analysis, which rated it as better for executive lifestyles than 98.0% of the neighborhoods in Iowa. In addition to being an excellent choice for highly educated executives, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for families with school-aged children and urban sophisticates.
In addition, priests and therapists would like to think they know the secrets to a truly successful marriage, but according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the folks of the neighborhood may actually hold the key. 71.1% of its residents are married, which is a higher percentage than is found in 97.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more German and Danish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 41.9% of this neighborhood's residents have German ancestry and 2.9% have Danish ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Polk City are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 94.3% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 4.5% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 65.8% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 53.8% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 20.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (14.9%), and 11.0% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 99.0% of households.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Polk City, IA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (41.9%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (17.1%), and residents who report English roots (15.3%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (5.3%), along with some Swedish ancestry residents (5.2%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (47.4% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (80.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.