Retiring to Dubuque, Iowa: the town in Census figures
For Americans thinking of retiring to Dubuque, Iowa, from another state or instead of a move abroad.
Not a US citizen or resident? The US has no retirement visa, and Medicare and these tax figures assume US residency. What applies to you →
Pros and cons of retiring in Dubuque, Iowa
Each figure against its state's published tax rules: a pro is better than most, a con worse than most, and a figure within 5% of the middle gets no verdict. Every figure is sourced and dated.
Pros
- Pension income partly or fully exempt: Iowa lets retirees exclude all from age 55 of pension or retirement income from its income tax (2025 rules), one of 21 states with such an exclusion. Iowa Department of Revenue, IA 1040 Expanded Instructions: Schedule 1 · 2026-10-26
Cons
No figure for Dubuque, Iowa is worse than most US states by our rule.
Dubuque has 59,174 residents, 12,258 of them aged 65 or older (20.7 %, ± 0.7 points), higher than the US share of 17.2 %, by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 2020–2024. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, tables B01001 and B09020, place
Last updated
Dubuque in Census figures
Every figure below is Dubuque's own — residents inside the Census Bureau's 2024 boundary of Dubuque. Each comes from the American Community Survey, a sample, so each carries its 90 % margin of error.
| Figure | Dubuque |
|---|---|
| Residents | 59,174 (± 59) US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B01001, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Residents aged 65 or older | 12,258 (± 392) US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B09020, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Share of residents aged 65 or older | 20.7 % (± 0.7 points) US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B09020, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Residents aged 65 or older who live alone | 3,697 (± 341), 30.2 % of residents aged 65 or older (± 2.6 points) US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B09020, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Median age of residents | 38.1 years (± 1.2) US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B01002, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Residents aged 65 or older living in group quarters (nursing homes and similar) | 974 (± 181) US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B09020, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Median yearly income of households headed by someone aged 65 or older | USD $52,932 ($50,082–$55,782), a year US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B19049, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Median monthly rent, utilities included | USD $948 ($919–$977), a month US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B25064, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Median value of an owner-occupied home, as its owner estimates it | USD $204,800 ($199,782–$209,818) US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B25077, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
| Median yearly property tax paid by home-owners | USD $2,682 ($2,619–$2,745), a year US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B25103, place · figure for 2020–2024 |
Where Dubuque sits
Dubuque lies in Dubuque County, Iowa.
Dubuque County figures — these describe the whole county, not Dubuque alone
The Census publishes no safety, healthcare-access, climate or hazard figure for a single town, so these are Dubuque County's, each against every US county holding the same figure.
| Criterion | Dubuque County |
|---|---|
| Cost of living BEA price level, all items (US = 100); lower is better |
87.3
Cheaper than 64% of the other 3,142 US counties BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, all items, Dubuque, IA metropolitan area · figure for 2024
|
| Taxes on a retired couple state and local tax on the example retired couple, USD a year; lower is better |
USD $4,305
Lower than 27% of the other 3,110 US counties The state's published 2025 income-tax rules, the county's own local income tax where one is levied, and the county's Census ACS property-tax ratio, applied to the example household · figure for 2025
|
| Healthcare access share of residents 65+ living in a county with a 4- or 5-star CMS hospital; higher is better |
No hospital in the county rated 4 or 5 stars by CMS CMS, Hospital General Information (Care Compare), hospital overall star rating, release of 13 Aug 2026 · figure for 2026 |
| Safety homicides per 100,000 a year, 2020–2024, by state of residence; lower is better |
no data Dubuque County had fewer than 20 homicides in 2020–2024: CDC WONDER publishes no reliable rate below that. |
| Climate months a year whose mean daily high is 18–29 °C (64–84 °F), 1981–2010; more is better |
5.0 months a year
More than 39% of the other 3,143 US counties CHELSA V2.1 monthly maximum temperature, 1981-2010 (~1 km), averaged over the county, Karger et al. · figure for 2010
|
| Natural-hazard risk expected yearly loss to buildings from natural hazards, per USD $1,000 of buildings; lower is better |
USD $1.17 per USD $1,000 of buildings
Lower than 62% of the other 3,143 US counties FEMA, National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), county expected annual loss to buildings (EAL_VALB) · figure for 2025
|
What Medicare costs in Dubuque County, Iowa
For the published example couple, both 67 and married: what Medicare premiums cost a year for two in Dubuque County, Iowa, and the most a bad year can cost. What care itself costs depends on a person's health, so it is not estimated here.
Medicare Advantage, with drug coverage
USD $5,410 a year for two in premiums (from USD $4,870)
At most USD $16,310 in a bad year (from USD $13,270), with each person's in-network out-of-pocket maximum
The middle of the 4 plans offered here; "from" is the lowest premium among them.
Original Medicare, with a drug plan
USD $5,669 a year for two in premiums (from USD $4,997)
Medigap: no federal price list — not in this total.
No yearly maximum on Original Medicare alone.
Part B for two, plus the middle of the 9 standalone drug plans offered in the state.
The 2027 Part B premium is not yet published (CMS usually publishes it in November); 2026's is used.
Source: CMS, Medicare Advantage and Part D Landscape, plan year 2027; CMS, 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (fact sheet, 14 Nov 2025).
Why Dubuque has a page
Dubuque is on ExpatAlmanac because the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 American Community Survey puts at least 20 % of its residents at 65 or older, even at the low end of the survey's 90 % margin, with at least 500 residents aged 65 or older. That share is shown as a Census figure; it ranks nothing and says nothing about why anyone lives there.
Would your money go further in Dubuque?
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