Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Traer’s subject grades are an A for cost of living and civic life and an A− for walkability; the weakest is a D for schools. Only 6 of the 141 Iowa towns we compare have a lower share of children under 18 than Traer. Traer has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Star-Clipper-Canfield Building and Winding Stairway. Traer has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Traer beats most towns.
Where Traer’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 Traer is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1900.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Traer, 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 Traer.
Its public schools are run by the North Tama County Community School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Tama ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 276 | C |
| North Tama High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 203 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Traer for work: only 15% work in town. Traer’s average trip to work is 21 minutes, above Iowa’s towns (19 minutes) but below U.S. towns (25 minutes). The top destinations are Waterloo (19%), Cedar Falls (8%) and Des Moines (4%).
| Traer | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 31% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 6.8% | 8.5% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 11% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Traer home is worth about $177,000, down 1.9% in a year, 25% below the Iowa typical home.
| Traer | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 77% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $971 a month | $911 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Traer has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 10° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (37% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (23% statewide). Traer’s median age is 46.5 years, above both the Iowa town median (38.7 years) and the median of U.S. towns (40.5 years). 22% of Traer residents are 65 or older.
| Traer | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.5 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 25% | 29% |
47% women, 53% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.3 points. Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Traer | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.3% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.7% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.2% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.7% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.6% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.2% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.2% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.9% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.7% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.8% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.3% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,600, single groups can be off by several points
Traer beats the Iowa average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 30% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Traer.
| Traer | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 20% | 16% |
| What stands out | Traer | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.3% | 11.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.4% | 12% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.4% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 60% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Traer since 2008.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Taylor Park | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Traer; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Traer residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
3 notable people were born in Traer.
City in Iowa, United States
Traer is a city in Tama County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,583 at the time of the 2020 census. Traer is known for the iron spiral staircase that originally led to the office of the local newspaper. The staircase is freestanding, reverse-spiral and connected to the building with a suspended walkway, a somewhat rare arrangement.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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.
3 notable people were born here, including Margaret Wilson and Dennis Remmert.
