Waterloo

Population & Demographics

Waterloo, IA

Waterloo is home to 67,008 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 31,398 resident workers commute each day.

IowaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
67,008
people
Population

67,008 residents

Median age 36.7 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Waterloo population & demographics

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

Population
67,008
Median age
36.7yrs
Median household income
$57,480
Median home value
$152,600
Median gross rent
$923/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
21.8%
Poverty rate
16.6%

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 Waterloo

How Waterloo 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).

White65.5%
Black16.4%
Hispanic or Latino8.4%
Two or more races4.9%
Asian3.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander1.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.1%
Some other race0.1%

Race across Waterloo

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 Waterloo.

Waterloo at a glance
Employed Residents
31,398
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
5.6mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
52.6%
Share working within the area
Work from home
7.6%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Cedar Falls
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Waterloo 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 Waterloo 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.

87
Commute Score

87 / 100

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

Waterloo

31,398 commutes, one dot at a time

Waterloo

Where 31,398 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

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

1Waterloo0.0 mi16,518
2Cedar Falls5.6 mi5,615
3Cedar Rapids49.4 mi852
4Des Moines90.3 mi606
5Waverly17.5 mi493
6West Des Moines97.0 mi326
7Evansdale3.8 mi295
8Iowa City71.6 mi261

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Waterloo.

1Waterloo0.0 mi16,518
2Cedar Falls5.6 mi5,573
3Evansdale3.8 mi1,090
4Waverly17.5 mi797
5Cedar Rapids49.4 mi683
6Des Moines90.3 mi650
7Hudson7.7 mi558
8La Porte City14.7 mi461

Top industries

The sectors that employ Waterloo’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%)
MFManufacturing31.2%
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance16.7%
RTRetail Trade10.4%
AFAccommodation and Food Services5.9%
EDEducational Services5.3%
OSOther Services (except Public Administration)4.2%
FIFinance and Insurance3.8%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services3.7%
PAPublic Administration3.6%
Connectivity

Internet options for Waterloo

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

13 providers · 4 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps98%
5 Gbps98%
8 Gbps36%
See all internet providers in Waterloo

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).