IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Cedar Falls, IA
Cedar Falls is a small city of 40,888 people in Black Hawk County, Iowa. It's about 6 miles from Waterloo, IA and 174 miles from Minneapolis, MN, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 85°F and winter highs 28°F, with about 39 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $264k and rent runs about $1k a month.
40,888people
$264kTypical home
$1,203/moRent
85° / 28°Summer / winter
39"Snow
233Sunny days
113Rain/snow days
Is Cedar Falls right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Small city of 40,888
- Part of a metro area
- About 1,388 people per sq mi
- 174 mi to Minneapolis, MN
- 6 mi to Waterloo, IA
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $264k (≈$1,662/mo)
- Median rent $1,203/mo
- Median household income $77k
- Property tax about 1.4% of value
- 4.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 85°F
- Winter highs around 28°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 62°F)
- 233 sunny days a year (82 totally clear)
- 132 cloudy days a year
- 42 of 90 winter days are gray
- 113 days a year with rain or snow
- 39" of snow a year
- 12 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 42 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Very low violent crime (140 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,140 per 100k)
People
- Median age 29
- 22% of households have kids
- 16% are 65 or older
- 50% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 23% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 16 min
- 6% walk or take transit to work
- 4 mi to ALO airport
- 92 mi to DSM (major hub)
- 104 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 66% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1975
- 93% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 896 ft
- 798 mi to the ocean
- 155 mi to a big lake
- 11 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 83 mi to the nearest ski area
- 12 mi to the nearest campground
- 26 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 91 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 40 bars within 25 mi
- 37 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 3 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 21 museums within 25 mi
- 1 brewery or distillery within 25 mi
- Farmers market in town
Everyday
- Schools in the top 31% of Iowa districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 2 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 8 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- Dog park in town
- 8 congregations per 10k people
- College in town
Politics
- Black Hawk County: Purple — split almost evenly
- Iowa: R+13 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- High flood risk
- Low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk