Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,617, settled in 1871.
Manson’s best subject grades are an A+ for cost of living and an A for civic life; its weakest is a C− for schools. Only 8 of the 138 Iowa towns we compare have a lower median rent than Manson. Manson is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 72% of U.S. towns. Manson has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Manson beats most towns.
Where Manson’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Manson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 377 in 1880, 1,709 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1917 and 2 maps from 1979 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Manson, 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 Manson.
Its public schools are run by the Manson Northwest Webster Community School District. Its one school is below. The largest public high school is Manson Northwest Webster Junior High/High School, with 337 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manson Northwest Webster Junior High/High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 337 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
The typical Manson home is worth about $151,000, up 4.5% in a year, 36% below the Iowa typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Manson for work: only 14% work in town. Manson’s average trip to work is 22 minutes, where Iowa’s towns sit at 19 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. The top destinations are Fort Dodge (22%), Rockwell City (4%) and Pocahontas (3%).
| Manson | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 31% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 7.5% | 8.5% | 11% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Manson beats the Iowa average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 30% of Manson adults sleep under 7 hours, below both the Iowa town median (32%) and the median of U.S. towns (36%). 15% of adults report frequent mental distress in Manson.
| Manson | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| What stands out | Manson | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9% | 12% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.2% | 9.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Manson has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 9° and about 32 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
People 65 and older are 24% of residents (18% statewide). Manson has lost 5.3% of its people since 2020, down to 1,617 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 31% across Iowa.
| Manson | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 41.3 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 22% | 23% | 22% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±9 points. Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Manson | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.8% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.6% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.7% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.2% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.9% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.7% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.2% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.6% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.1% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.5% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.8% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.9% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.5% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.2% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,600, single groups can be off by several points
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Manson Fairground Park | — | 15 |
| 2. Watertower Park | — | 4 |
| 3. Veterans Memorial Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Manson; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Manson residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
City in Calhoun County, Iowa, United States
Manson is a city in Calhoun County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,709 at the time of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.