The bipartisan State of the Nation Project has collected extensive data on Iowa and compared it with other states. Below we provide a brief progress report that shows the state rank and trend for each measure.
Iowa ranks higher, on average, on the topics of Civil Liberties (1), Inequality (2), and Work and Labor Force (5), but lower on Physical Health (20), Environment (33), and Economy (35). Iowa also outperforms its Midwest neighbors in 3 of the 14 topics and is improving over time on 7 of the 27 measures.
Iowa Summary Table
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Children & FamiliesState
TrendState
Rank-
Child Mortality17
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Low Birthweight13
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Youth Depression20
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Children Living With Single Parent15
-
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Citizenship & DemocracyState
TrendState
Rank-
Voter Participation19
-
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Civil LibertiesState
TrendState
Rank-
Freedom of the Press1
-
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EconomyState
TrendState
Rank-
Economic Output32
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Productivity31
-
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EducationState
TrendState
Rank-
Academic Test Scores16
-
Average Years of Education29
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Young Adults Employed or in School4
-
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EnvironmentState
TrendState
Rank-
Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions35
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Air Quality30
-
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InequalityState
TrendState
Rank-
Income Inequality6
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Poverty6
-
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Life SatisfactionState
TrendState
Rank-
Satisfaction with Current LifeNANA
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Social Isolation10
-
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Mental HealthState
TrendState
Rank-
Depression34
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Fatal Overdoses3
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Suicide Rate25
-
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Physical HealthState
TrendState
Rank-
Life Expectancy20
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Social CapitalState
TrendState
Rank-
Volunteerism11
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Trust in Other PeopleNANA
-
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TrustState
TrendState
Rank-
Trust in the Federal GovernmentNANA
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Trust in ScienceNANA
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ViolenceState
TrendState
Rank-
Murder Rate7
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Shootings10
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Work & Labor ForceState
TrendState
Rank-
Employment-to-Population Ratio (EPOP)4
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Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)5
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Long-Term Unemployment Rate4
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Hourly Earnings Growth23
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How to Read This Report:
We report each measure three different ways: State Rank, State Trend, State vs. US Trend. Each result is color coded as either red (negative/worsening), yellow (neutral/stable), or green (positive/improving), as indicated below. If the simple trends were erratic, had too few data points, or had no data points, we do not color code and label the trend as “mixed,” "unclear," or "NA," respectively.
State Rank
(Where are we now?)
State Trend
(Where are we going?)
State vs. US Trend
(How do we compare?)
Top third of states
(i.e., ranks 1-17)
Improving
Trendline is improving by >5% and most points are improving relative to the first data point.
Improving
Trendline is improving relative to the national trend and rank is improving by 2+ rank spots.
Middle third of states
(i.e., ranks 18-34)
Neutral/Stable
Doesn't fall into improving, worsening, mixed, unclear, or NA categories.
Neutral/Stable
Trendline is improving/worsening the same amount as the national trend or rank is changing by <2 spots.
Bottom third of states
(i.e., ranks 35-51)
Worsening
Trendline is worsening by >5% and most points are worsening relative to the first data point.
Worsening
Trendline is worsening relative to national trend and rank is declining by 2+ rank spots
Mixed
Large shares of points are improving and worsening by >5% in different parts of the trend.
Mixed
This label only applies when a measure has more than 1 trendline. One trendline is improving and another is worsening.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a trend.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a comparison.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
For more information on our definitions and methods, please see the Data Notes section.
