Palo Alto County, Iowa is in Iowa, is rural high-performing, is better than the nationwide crime averages in both property crime and violent crime, is worse than the nationwide employment averages in each of job variety, job proximity, and new-business growth rate, is better than the nationwide household averages in each of household income, homeownership, overcrowding, internet access, housing costs, and home heating, is worse than the nationwide adult-disease averages in both obesity and heart disease, is better than the nationwide public-safety averages in each of drinking water, airborne cancer risk, air quality, toxic-chemical exposure, and flood hazard, is better than the nationwide adult-disease averages in both cancer and diabetes, and is better than the nationwide black/hispanic disparity averages in each of income, pollution exposure, and premature death.

Numeric values:
- median household income ($47,113)
- public-school spending per student ($13,654)
- average weekly wage ($678.00)
- per-capita spending on police and fire protection ($209.43)
- households with internet access (99.81%)
- high-school graduation rate (90.39%)
- youth who live within 5 miles of a public school (76.11%)
- homeownership rate (74.4%)
- households with utility gas or electric for home heating (72.41%)
- population living close to emergency facilities (69.71%)
- 4th-grade students who are proficient in English Language Arts (65.66%)
- labor-force participation (64.44%)
- racial integration (56.00%)
- pre-school enrollment (41.63%)
- population age 25+ with an Associate Degree or higher (37.34%)
- adult obesity (35.90%)
- heart disease among older adults (28.99%)
- adults who did NOT take part in leisure-time physical activity or exercise in the past month (24.60%)
- population without nearby access to a large grocery store (23.91%)
- households where housing costs (mortgage or rent and utilities) exceed 30% of household income (18.38%)
- adults of age 18+ who smoke tobacco (15.54%)
- older adults (Medicare beneficiaries) who are diagnosed with depression (12.52%)
- adults who self-report fair or poor general health within the last 30 days (11.99%)
- poverty rate (10.72%)
- adult diabetes (8.3%)
- population without health insurance (6.61%)
- land area covered by tree canopy, weighted by population (6.40%)
- cancer among older adults (6.05%)
- new-business growth rate (5.98%)
- newborns with low birth weight (5.20%)
- households with no vehicle (3.82%)
- change in median household value (+3.65%)
- households in a FEMA-designated flood hazard area (3.58%)
- civilian labor-force unemployment (3.2%)
- households that receive public-assistance income (3.02%)
- workers who commute 60 minutes or more (2.97%)
- youth of ages 16-19 who are neither working nor enrolled in school (2.84%)
- unsafe drinking water exposure (2.02%)
- vacant houses (1.66%)
- overcrowded households (1.11%)
- relative disparity in unemployment rates among the disabled, compared to the total population (0.99%)
- tax returns that claim adult education tax credits (0.00%)
- teenage birth rate (0%)
- affordable housing relative to low-income population (-22.37)
- food environment index (7.5)
- jobs within a 45-minute commute by car (1,815)
- local food outlets per 100,000 in population (11.2)
- nonprofits per 100,000 population (62.6)
- variety of industries among available jobs (0.55)
- walkability index (6.94)
- airborne cancer risk per million in population (22.13)
- car crash fatalities per 100,000 population (17.53)
- chronic health risk from exposure to toxic chemicals (243.67)
- days per month that adults self-report 'not good' mental health (3.21)
- preventable hospital admissions per 100,000 population (2,921)
- property crimes per 100,000 population (888.98)
- relative disparity in income among blacks and hispanics, compared to whites (0.42)
- relative disparity in pollution exposure among blacks, hispanics, and other, compared to whites (2.36)
- relative disparity in premature death among blacks and hispanics, compared to whites (0.00)
- risk of developing serious respiratory complications per 10,000 in population (0.62)
- very-hot days per year (12)
- violent crimes per 100,000 population (169.33)
- CMS-certified beds within active hospitals per 1,000 population (2.65)
- first responders per 1,000 population (1.380)
- population (9,092)
- primary-care doctors per 100,000 population (65.94)