Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,762, settled in 1872.
Sibley gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $174K, 2.5 years of the county’s $69K median household income. It grades C overall, 106th among Iowa's 140 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $55K, and 24% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 76% of the country. On the plus side, 4% of its land is conserved. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in Sibley, above both Iowa’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Osceola County Courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Sibley beats most towns.
3.6% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Sibley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 301 in 1880, 2,860 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2004 and 2 maps from 1972 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sibley, 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 Sibley.
Sibley is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has poverty well above the Iowa rate and has many renters stretched by housing costs.
2.8 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The trail density in Sibley is 1.6 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Fairgrounds Park, at 34 acres.
| Sibley | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 3.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fairgrounds Park | — | 34 |
| 2. Robinson Park | — | 12 |
| 3. Central Park | 0.2 mi | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Sibley-Ocheyedan Community School District. Its three schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sibley Ocheyedan Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 308 | B+ |
| Sibley-Ocheyedan High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 195 | B− |
| Sibley-Ocheyedan Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 185 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
Against the 7,437 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sibley’s, it is less healthy than 55%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
31% of Sibley adults get no exercise outside work. Sibley beats the Iowa average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 14% of Sibley adults have diabetes.
| Sibley | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 12% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Sibley | IA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 10.7% | 7.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 6.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 16.3% | 12% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
70.1% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 43.9% across Iowa.
Typical home values rose 8% in the year to September 2026. Sibley’s median rent is $774 a month.
| Sibley | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $774 a month | $913 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Sibley has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 6° and about 42 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 3 of Sibley’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Sibley has added 142 jobs, to 1,385 in 2023. The top destinations are Worthington (5%), Sheldon (4%) and Spirit Lake (3%).
| Sibley | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 39% | 31% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
23.5% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.1% across Iowa, which weighs on its D for jobs and income.
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Iowa average. 26% of residents are under 18 in Sibley. Sibley has lost 3.5% of its people since 2020, down to 2,762 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Sibley | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 26% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 37.1 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 25% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 19% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.9 points. Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 70% are men (IA 51%).
| Sibley | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.7% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.7% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.4% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.3% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.7% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.5% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.8% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.4% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.1% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.8% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 59% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Sibley; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Sibley residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
6 notable people were born in Sibley.
City in Iowa, USA
Sibley is a city and the county seat of Osceola County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,860 at the time of the 2020 census. Hawkeye Point, the highest point in the State of Iowa, is also nearby.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sibley grades C overall, better than 29% of U.S. towns and #106 of 140 in Iowa. It grades C− for health and B− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
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−.
6 notable people were born here, including Robert W. Grow and Dave Tjepkes.
