Council Bluffs

Population & Demographics

Council Bluffs, IA

Council Bluffs is home to 62,586 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 31,781 resident workers commute each day.

IowaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
62,586
people
Population

62,586 residents

Median age 38.7 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Council Bluffs population & demographics

Who lives in Council Bluffs — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
62,586
Median age
38.7yrs
Median household income
$64,578
Median home value
$171,800
Median gross rent
$1,030/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
21.5%
Poverty rate
15.1%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Council Bluffs

How Council Bluffs breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White81.2%
Hispanic or Latino11.6%
Two or more races2.8%
Black2.7%
Asian1.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.3%
Some other race0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.1%

Race across Council Bluffs

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Council Bluffs.

Council Bluffs at a glance
Employed Residents
31,781
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
9.4mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
37.5%
Share working within the area
Work from home
8.4%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Omaha
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Council Bluffs proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Council Bluffs commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

80
Commute Score

80 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Council Bluffs

31,781 commutes, one dot at a time

Council Bluffs

Where 31,781 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Council Bluffs, by worker count.

1Council Bluffs0.0 mi11,925
2Omaha9.4 mi9,889
3Des Moines118.7 mi466
4Bellevue8.4 mi439
5Papillion11.8 mi343
6Lincoln52.5 mi336
7West Des Moines110.7 mi329
8La Vista11.4 mi325

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Council Bluffs.

1Council Bluffs0.0 mi11,925
2Omaha9.4 mi6,094
3Bellevue8.4 mi1,127
4Carter Lake3.9 mi382
5Glenwood15.4 mi377
6Des Moines118.7 mi353
7Sioux City90.2 mi307
8Papillion11.8 mi254

Top industries

The sectors that employ Council Bluffs’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance14.8%
AFAccommodation and Food Services14.5%
RTRetail Trade14.4%
MFManufacturing14.2%
EDEducational Services7.9%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services5.8%
COConstruction4.7%
PAPublic Administration4.4%
TRTransportation and Warehousing4.2%
Connectivity

Internet options for Council Bluffs

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

12 providers · 4 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps100%
5 Gbps5%
8 Gbps5%
See all internet providers in Council Bluffs

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).