Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ely’s best subject grades are an A+ for incomes and an A for health and civic life; its weakest is a C− for walkability. On incomes, just 7 of Iowa’s 276 towns do better. Ely has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Podhajsky-Jansa Farmstead District and Ely School House. Ely has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Ely beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Ely | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.7% | 11.6% |
Jan F. and Antonie Janko Farmstead District1,776 counted in 2010 and 2,328 in 2020; an estimated 2,366 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Ely is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 161 in 1910, 2,328 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2010 and 5 maps from 1887 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ely. Close and well known come first.
16 mi Stadium & arenaKinnick Stadium
19 mi MuseumHerbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
15 mi Stadium & arenaCarver–Hawkeye Arena
19 mi National Historic SiteHerbert Hoover National Historic Site107K visitors a year
7 mi MuseumNational Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
8 mi MuseumMuseum of Art Cedar RapidsKinnick Stadium: Count_de_Des_Moines (talk) (Uploads), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum: Shadow2700, Public domain · Carver–Hawkeye Arena: Asolsma1988, CC0 · Herbert Hoover National Historic Site: Billwhittaker, CC BY-SA 3.0 · National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library: ArtisticAbode, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Museum of Art Cedar Rapids: ericjames, CC BY 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ely, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Ely.
The typical Ely home is worth about $372,000, up 4.4% in a year, 57% above the Iowa typical home. 82% of Ely households own their home, above both the Iowa town median (70%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%).
| Ely | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $936 a month | $911 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
17% of Ely adults get no exercise outside work, against 26% in Iowa’s towns and 25% across U.S. towns. 31% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Ely. Among 141 Iowa towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Ely.
| Ely | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 20% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.8% | 12% | 12% |
| What stands out | Ely | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.7% | 11.6% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 3.9% | 6.6% |
| More binge drinkers | 24.5% | 20.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.6% of Ely working residents work locally. Jobs based in Ely grew to 279 in 2023, 122 more than in 2013. 2.4% of Ely residents live below the poverty line.
| Ely | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.6% | 31% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.4% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $106,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (37% statewide). Among 141 Iowa towns, just 9 have a higher share of children under 18 than Ely. 38% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 31% across Iowa.
| Ely | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 30% | 23% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 25% | 29% |
| Median age | 38.1 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6 points. Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Ely | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16.1% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.7% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.7% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 20.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.8% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.4% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 2.4% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.9% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.2% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.3% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.6% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,400, single groups can be off by several points
Ely has cold winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 12° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Ely.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Ely | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.8% | 3.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ely City Park | 0.4 mi | 19 |
| 2. Vavra Park | — | 6 |
| 3. Community Center Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
4 within 15 miles of the center of Ely
About 2 of every 100 Ely residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
Where Ely’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Ely on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Iowa, United States
Ely is a city in Linn County, Iowa. The population was 2,328 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 4.8 years of the area's median household income ($78,080 across the Cedar Rapids, IA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
