The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic continues to be a major public health crisis in the U.S. Large metropolitan areas have garnered the most attention in academic and policy discussions about COVID-19 due to the sheer numbers of cases and deaths. Missing from the discussion is the pandemic’s impact on smaller communities in rural America. This is a critical omission because COVID cases and deaths have proliferated in rural places over the past year. There is an immediate need to understand how COVID-19 has impacted the well-being of residents in understudied rural communities, especially meat packing towns that have had large outbreaks among their diverse workforce. Our project documents the health, economic, and emotional impacts of COVID-19 from a survey of 13,679 households across 73 small towns in Iowa, including two micropolitans. There were 5,229 Iowans who responded to our survey, for a response rate of 38.2 percent. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation (grants #2033920 and #2033957); and is a collaborative effort between Iowa State University and the University of Iowa.

COVID Counseling and Assistance

  • COVID Recovery Iowa provides counseling, virtual activities, referrals and help finding resources to any Iowan seeking assistance or a listening ear.
  • Visit the website at https://covidrecoveryiowa.org
  • Call or text 1-844-775-WARM or 800-447-1985.  Para español, teléfono o texto 531-800-3687.

About the Project

State Reports

Town Reports

Towns Summary Future#1 Future#2 Future#3
Afton Afton_1
Albia Albia_1
Anita Anita_1
Atkins Atkins_1
Audubon Audubon_1
Bancroft Bancroft_1
Bedford Bedford_1
Bloomfield Bloomfield_1
Buffalo Center BuffaloCenter_1
Calmar Calmar_1
Center Point CenterPoint_1
Chariton Chariton_1
Cherokee Cherokee_1
Clarence Clarence_1
Clarinda Clarinda_1
Colo Colo_1
Columbus Jct ColumbusJct_1
Corning Corning_1
Correctionville Correctionville_1
Denison Denison _1
Donnellson Donnellson_1
Eagle Grove EagleGrove_1
Elma Elma_1
Epworth Epworth_1
Estherville Estherville_1
Fruitland Fruitland_1
Garnavillo Garnavillo_1
George George_1
Gilbertville Gilbertville_1
Glidden Glidden_1
Gowrie Gowrie_1
Graettinger Graettinger_1
Hamburg Hamburg_1
Hartford Hartford_1
Hartley Hartley_1
Hills Hills_1
Hospers Hospers_1
Humboldt Humboldt_1
Jefferson Jefferson_1
Lake Park LakePark_1
Lamoni Lamoni_1
Le Claire LeClaire_1
Le Mars LeMars_1
Madrid Madrid_1
Mapleton Mapleton_1
Mediapolis Mediapolis_1
Missouri Valley MissouriValley_1
Monroe Monroe_1
Montezuma Montezuma_1
Mount Ayr MountAyr_1
Murray Murray_1
Nashua Nashua_1
Nora Springs NoraSprings_1
Northwood Northwood_1
Oakland Oakland_1
Ottumwa Ottumwa_1
Pleasantville Pleasantville_1
Pocahontas Pocahontas_1
Sac City SacCity_1
St. Ansgar StAnsgar_1
Sheffield Sheffield_1
Sibley Sibley_1
Storm Lake StormLake_1
Traer Traer_1
Ventura Ventura_1
Villisca Villisca_1
Waukon Waukon_1
Waverly Waverly_1
Webster City WebsterCity_1
West Liberty WestLiberty_1
Williamsburg Williamsburg_1
Winfield Winfield_1
Woodward Woodward_1