Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Living in Ralston, IA: what to set up and who to call
Most mail in Ralston goes to 51459 (93% of residents), one of 3 ZIP codes in town. The nearest library is H.F. and Maude E. Marchant Memorial Library, 4.5 miles away.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Ralston, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Ralston.
Power comes from Interstate Power and Light
Interstate Power and Light (Interstate Power and Light Co), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Ralston. Its homes paid an average of 17.8¢ per kWh in 2025, about $131 a month (its average across Iowa).
Start or move service: alliantenergy.com · (319) 786-4411
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Ralston Water Treatment Plant
Ralston Water Treatment Plant supplies Ralston: about 68% of residents live in its service area. About 32% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws ground water and serves 75 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 78% of the 11,392 systems serving <=100 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2021–Dec 2023, was 1.6 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s higher than 67% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0 (EPA’s estimate). Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. IA1471069.
4 home internet providers serve Ralston
86% of 58 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 36% can get fiber.
| Provider | Technology | Addresses | Fastest (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinetic | DSL, Fixed wireless | 93% | 200/20 |
| Scranton Telephone Company | Fiber | 29% | 500/500 |
| T-Mobile | Fixed wireless | 62% | 25/3 |
| Rise Broadband | Fixed wireless | 26% | 50/10 |
FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.
We don’t have Ralston’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Ralston.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Ralston is in Glidden-Ralston Community School District.
Test scores and every school: see Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
Town hall and registering to vote
Who to call, and how to register.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Jun 2023; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ralston spans 3 ZIP codes
ZIP codes where Ralston residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Ralston | ZIP’s residents in Ralston |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51459 | Ralston, IA | 93% | 100% |
| 51462 | Scranton, IA | 6% | 0% |
| 51443 | Glidden, IA | 1% | 0% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Ralston
Who supplies Ralston’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
Ralston Water Treatment Plant (EPA ID IA1471069). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 78% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 1.6 ppb (Jan 2021–Dec 2023), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Ralston?
Interstate Power and Light (Interstate Power and Light Co), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 17.8¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What internet providers serve Ralston?
Kinetic, Scranton Telephone Company, T-Mobile, Rise Broadband (FCC, as of December 2025).
What ZIP codes are in Ralston?
51459 (93%), 51462 (6%), 51443 (1%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Ralston in?
Glidden-Ralston Community School District.
How do I register to vote in Ralston?
In Iowa you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before). Elections here are run by the Carroll County Auditor. Check your registration at sos.iowa.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.