Living in Pella, IA
Pella is a big small town of 10,720 people in Marion County, Iowa. It's about 38 miles from Des Moines, IA and 179 miles from Kansas City, MO, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 85°F and winter highs 30°F, with about 30 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $293k and rent runs about $1k a month.
10,720people
$293kTypical home
$1,046/moRent
85° / 30°Summer / winter
30"Snow
237Sunny days
99Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Big small town of 10,720
- Its own small hub, not a suburb
- About 1,147 people per sq mi
- 179 mi to Kansas City, MO
- 38 mi to Des Moines, IA
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $293k (≈$1,846/mo)
- Median rent $1,046/mo
- Median household income $84k
- Property tax about 1.3% of value
- 1.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 85°F
- Winter highs around 30°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 63°F)
- 237 sunny days a year (88 totally clear)
- 128 cloudy days a year
- 41 of 90 winter days are gray
- 99 days a year with rain or snow
- 30" of snow a year
- 11 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 33 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Very low violent crime (101 per 100k)
- Very low property crime (444 per 100k)
People
- Median age 35
- 25% of households have kids
- 19% are 65 or older
- 47% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 16% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 16 min
- 8% walk or take transit to work
- 39 mi to DSM airport
- 39 mi to DSM (major hub)
- 37 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 72% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1976
- 89% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 883 ft
- 776 mi to the ocean
- 227 mi to a big lake
- 44 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 34 mi to the nearest ski area
- 3 mi to the nearest campground
- 12 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 46 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 11 bars within 25 mi
- 16 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 14 museums within 25 mi
- No breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 22 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 2% of Iowa districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 2 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 22 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 13 mi to the nearest vet
- 20 mi to the nearest dog park
- 13 congregations per 10k people
- College in town
Politics
- Marion County: R+38 in 2024
- Iowa: R+13 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- High flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- Moderate winter storm risk
- Moderate heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk