Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Wapello’s subject grades are an A+ for cost of living and civic life and an A for history; the weakest is a D for schools. 32% of residents are 65 or older in Wapello, against 19% in Iowa’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. Only 22 of Iowa’s 276 towns score higher on cost of living. Wapello has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Louisa County Courthouse and Commercial Hotel. Wapello has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Wapello beats most towns.
Louisa County CourthouseWhere Wapello’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 Wapello is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 336 in 1850, 2,084 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1895 and 2 maps from 1946 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wapello, 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 Wapello.
Its public schools are run by the Wapello Community School District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wapello Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 229 | C |
| Wapello Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 187 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
The typical Wapello home is worth about $146,000, up 1.6% in a year, 38% below the Iowa typical home. At $711 a month, Wapello’s median rent is below both Iowa’s towns ($911 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
| Wapello | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $711 a month | $911 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Wapello for work: only 16% work in town. Since 2013, Wapello has lost 129 jobs, to 612 in 2023. 6.4% of Wapello residents live below the poverty line.
| Wapello | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 31% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.4% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Wapello has cold, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 15° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wapello.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Wapello beats the Iowa average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 39% of adults have obesity in Wapello.
| Wapello | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 21% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Wapello | IA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Wapello; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Wapello residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Iowa.
2 places in Wapello on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Iowa, United States
Wapello is a city in and the county seat of Louisa County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,084 at the time of the 2020 census. Wapello is part of the Muscatine Micropolitan Statistical Area.
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+.
2 notable people were born here, including Edwin Richley Hicklin and Verne Mason.
