Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 641, platted in 1852.
Imes Covered Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Charles has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
Where St. Charles beats most towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Census counts: 183 in 1880, 640 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1870 and 2 maps from 1951 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in St. Charles, 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 St. Charles.
Typical home values rose 4.9% in the year to September 2026. The median rent for St. Charles comes to $855 a month.
| St. Charles | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $855 a month | $911 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 71% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
For half of commuters, work is under 22 miles away. Of the 141 Iowa towns we compare, none has a lower share of working residents who work in town than St. Charles. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in St. Charles dropped by 37, to 59. 7.5% of residents live below the poverty line locally.
| St. Charles | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 36 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.6% | 31% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.5% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $83,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expect July afternoons of 85° and January nights of 13°, with about 31 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
12% of St. Charles adults smoke cigarettes, below both Iowa’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (14%). The share of adults in St. Charles who binge drink: 22%. In St. Charles, just over one in ten adults report frequent physical distress, and 31% sleep under 7 hours.
| St. Charles | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 20% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 36% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | St. Charles | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7% | 11.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.1% | 12% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in St. Charles than in 56% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 49% come from inland flooding and 13% from tornadoes. Federal aid has come to St. Charles households in 3 declared disasters; the latest was in 2008.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Trails run 0.2 miles in 1 park or preserve. St. Charles has one park or preserve, 2 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Covered Bridge Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around St. Charles. Close and well known come first.
23 mi Stadium & arenaCasey's Center
24 mi MuseumIowa State Capitol30 mi Theme parkAdventureland
19 mi Zoo & aquariumBlank Park Zoo
22 mi MuseumDes Moines Art Center
23 mi Stadium & arenaDrake StadiumCasey's Center: Iowahwyman at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Iowa State Capitol: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Blank Park Zoo: Lawrence Lansing, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Des Moines Art Center: Nhandler at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Drake Stadium: U.S. Navy photo by James Woods, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of St. Charles
About 2 of every 100 St. Charles residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
Where St. Charles’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Iowa, USA
St. Charles or Saint Charles is a city in Madison County, Iowa, United States. The population was 640 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
St. Charles has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
