Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Perry gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $172K for a typical one, or 2 years of the Des Moines metro’s $86K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 93rd of 140 graded towns in Iowa. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its public schools trail 81% of Iowa towns on state tests and graduation and residents are less healthy than 77% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Perry has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Beaver Creek Bridge and Perry Carnegie Library Building. 23% of working residents work locally in Perry, below Iowa’s towns (31%) but above U.S. towns (8%). Only 8 of the 140 Iowa towns we compare have a higher average trip to work than Perry.
Where Perry beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Perry is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 952 in 1880, 7,836 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1907 and 2 maps from 1950 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Perry, 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 Perry.
Perry trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings.
Its public schools are run by the Perry Community School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Perry High School, with 549 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perry ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 816 | C |
| Perry High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 549 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
15% of Perry adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Perry beats the Iowa average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 33% of Perry adults get no exercise outside work.
| Perry | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 7% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 26% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 19% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Perry | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.8% | 8.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 14.9% | 7.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
About one in 4 of Perry’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Des Moines (8%), West Des Moines (6%) and Urbandale (4%).
| Perry | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 8.9% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Homes are within reach (about $172K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 20 miles. At 2 years of the Des Moines metro’s $86K median household income, the typical home (about $172K) costs less against local pay than in 91% of Iowa towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
The typical Perry home is worth about $172,000, about the same as a year ago, 27% below the Iowa typical home. 64% of households own their home in Perry.
| Perry | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $931 a month | $909 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Perry has cold, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 11° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 2004, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Perry.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 110 to 99 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
0.5 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Pattee Park, at 62 acres. Perry’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Perry | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.7% | 3.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pattee Park | — | 62 |
| 2. Wiese Park | 0.1 mi | 17 |
| 3. Perkins Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Perry; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Perry residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
6 places in Perry on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Perry.
City in Iowa, United States
Perry is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States, along the North Raccoon River. The population was 7,836 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Perry grades C+ overall, better than 43% of U.S. towns and #93 of 140 in Iowa. It grades C− for health, C+ for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
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.
7 notable people were born here, including V. T. Hamlin and Roy Halling.
