Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
The best of New London’s subject grades are an A for cost of living and history and an A− for civic life; the weakest is a C− for schools. 7.8% of working residents work locally in New London, below the Iowa town median (31%) and near the median of U.S. towns (8%). Only 5 of the 141 Iowa towns we compare have a higher January low than New London. On the outdoors, just 6 of Iowa’s 276 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Peterson Manufacturing Building and McClellan's General Store. New London has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where New London beats most towns.
Peterson Manufacturing BuildingWhere New London’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 New London is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1900.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in New London, 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 New London.
Its public schools are run by the New London Community School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clark Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 314 | C |
| New London Jr-Sr High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 284 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave New London for work: only 8% work in town. At 22 minutes, New London’s average trip to work is against 19 minutes in Iowa’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. The top destinations are Mount Pleasant (27%), Burlington (10%) and West Burlington (7%).
| New London | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.4% | 11% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
New London has cold winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 15° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical New London home is worth about $189,000, up 4.7% in a year, 20% below the Iowa typical home. 83% of New London households own their home.
| New London | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 83% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $849 a month | $911 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Iowa average. 26% of residents are under 18 in New London. New London has lost 3.3% of its people since 2020, down to 1,850 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| New London | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 26% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 35.5 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 25% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 19% | 18% |
56% women, 44% men
About 79 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±5.7 points). Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 75% are men (IA 52%).
| New London | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.2% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.2% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.4% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.1% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.3% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.7% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.1% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.9% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.7% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.2% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.6% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.7% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,900, single groups can be off by several points
New London tracks Iowa closely on all 32 CDC measures. Only 9 of the 141 Iowa towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than New London.
| New London | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 32% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 20% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 35% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Central Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of New London
About 4 of every 100 New London residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
3 places in New London on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in New London.
City in Iowa, United States
New London is a city in Henry County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,910 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.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
4 notable people were born here, including Ivan Bonar and William Hale.
