Bloomfield, Iowa, lacks the advantages some small Iowa towns have. It is not on the interstate highway system or a major airport.

But Bloomfield, Davis County’s seat in southern Iowa 11 miles from Iowa’s border with Missouri, grew its population from 2,640 in 2010 to 2,682 in 2020, new U.S. census data show.

“Even if people aren’t working here, they’re living here,” Tammy Roberts, the town’s community development director, said.

A handful of small Iowa towns like Bloomfield, with populations of less than 5,000 and not part of a larger metro area, bucked the trend and grew their populations in the 2020 census data just released. These outliers come at a time when census data show Iowans increasingly living in urban areas. The growing small towns have one or more of the following working in their favor, a four-month IowaWatch investigation revealed during visits to 58 towns of 5,000 or fewer people:

  • Infrastructure such as high-speed internet, local phone and cable decision-makers, basic amenities such as good streets and lighting, and restored or replaced old buildings so that enough housing exists.
  • A local attraction that brings people into town to hear a story, including the arts and other recreational outlets.
  • Creative businesses that attract out-of-town shoppers but also embrace a sense of community pride that leads to coordinated business and local philanthropy efforts.
  • Readily available health care.
  • Adequate day care options.
  • Strong local schools.
  • A sense of being safe.
  • Aggressive pursuit of community development grants.

Some of these efforts can be duplicated in other towns but success would not be guaranteed because each town has its own dynamics, experts IowaWatch interviewed said.

Read the full article about rural decline by Lyle Muller and Pat Kinney at The 74.