Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA, Census Bureau · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Who heats with electricity where it is cold in Iowa?

316,696homes in Iowa heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

All 99 Iowa counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 24% of the 1,303,763 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. Rank 19 of 35 by count, 18 by share. Polk County holds the most: 64,131 electric-heated homes at 6,447 heating degree days.

Where Iowa sits among the states

Share of homes that heat with electricity in cold counties, by state, one tile per stateAlaska: no data in this seriesAKMaine: 10.1% of homesMEVermont: 8.1% of homesVTNew Hampshire: 10.7% of homesNHWashington: 57.7% of homesWAIdaho: 35.0% of homesIDMontana: 26.6% of homesMTNorth Dakota: 39.9% of homesNDMinnesota: 18.8% of homesMNIllinois: 18.2% of homesILWisconsin: 17.3% of homesWIMichigan: 11.6% of homesMINew York: 14.4% of homesNYRhode Island: 12.1% of homesRIMassachusetts: 17.9% of homesMAOregon: 53.1% of homesORNevada: 8.7% of homesNVWyoming: 23.3% of homesWYSouth Dakota: 32.6% of homesSDIowa: 24.3% of homesIAIndiana: 30.7% of homesINOhio: 25.6% of homesOHPennsylvania: 24.8% of homesPANew Jersey: 15.6% of homesNJConnecticut: no data in this seriesCTCalifornia: 2.0% of homesCAUtah: 16.4% of homesUTColorado: 25.2% of homesCONebraska: 31.2% of homesNEMissouri: 37.0% of homesMOKentucky: 49.5% of homesKYWest Virginia: 45.5% of homesWVVirginia: 32.2% of homesVAMaryland: 42.6% of homesMDDelaware: 37.0% of homesDEArizona: 0.9% of homesAZNew Mexico: 13.1% of homesNMKansas: 26.5% of homesKSArkansas: 1.9% of homesARTennessee: 9.9% of homesTNNorth Carolina: 5.6% of homesNCSouth Carolina: 0.0% of homesSCDistrict of Columbia: no data in this seriesDCOklahoma: 0.5% of homesOKLouisiana: 0.0% of homesLAMississippi: 0.0% of homesMSAlabama: 0.0% of homesALGeorgia: 0.4% of homesGAHawaii: no data in this seriesHITexas: 0.1% of homesTXFlorida: 0.0% of homesFL

Darker is a larger share. Iowa is outlined.

Iowa: cold counties and electric heat

Iowa cold counties, electric heating
Polk County202,40431.764,1316,447-4%20.3
Linn County95,05119.318,3586,861-4%5.8
Johnson County62,21427.016,8286,545-3%5.3
Black Hawk County53,74030.216,2407,135-5%5.1
Scott County72,67520.414,8346,368-6%4.7
Dallas County40,86832.513,2676,546-5%4.2
Woodbury County40,50330.512,3516,903-4%3.9
Story County38,70828.410,9996,806-5%3.5
Pottawattamie County37,53119.47,2636,357-4%2.3
Dubuque County40,58515.66,3487,040-4%2.0
Warren County20,21924.24,9006,294-4%1.5
Sioux County12,57638.14,7957,414-4%1.5
Lee County14,30528.14,0155,830-3%1.3
Plymouth County10,29736.73,7787,130-4%1.2
Marshall County15,54623.23,6046,883-5%1.1
Clinton County19,43418.03,4976,536-6%1.1
Webster County15,64122.33,4907,112-4%1.1
Des Moines County17,18819.83,4096,020-4%1.1
Cerro Gordo County19,42117.23,3437,561-4%1.1
Jasper County14,74821.23,1296,566-5%1.0

Largest 20 of 99 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. The 79 smaller cold counties are in the CSV. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Polk County, Linn County, Johnson County, hold 31% of the 316,696 electric-heated homes in Iowa cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Crawford County at 44%. The coldest, Howard County, averages 7,892 heating degree days; Iowa as a whole averages 6,736 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, Iowa cold counties, 12 largest

  • Polk County64,131
  • Linn County18,358
  • Johnson County16,828
  • Black Hawk County16,240
  • Scott County14,834
  • Dallas County13,267
  • Woodbury County12,351
  • Story County10,999
  • Pottawattamie County7,263
  • Dubuque County6,348
  • Warren County4,900
  • Sioux County4,795

Iowa: the 10 coldest counties

Howard County is coldest at 7,892 heating degree days with 11% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 8,494 electric-heated homes.

Iowa 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Howard County3,67211.37,8927,567
Osceola County2,60622.67,7927,508
Mitchell County4,47712.37,7617,432
Worth County3,19513.47,7607,474
Winnebago County4,59115.77,7487,493
Dickinson County8,65024.97,7427,469
Emmet County3,92213.87,6877,449
Winneshiek County8,19714.37,6607,304
Chickasaw County4,98515.87,6477,307
Lyon County4,44425.37,5977,339

Iowa: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Crawford County is highest at 44% and Monona County is 10th at 32%.

Iowa 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Crawford County6,22943.86,9456,543
Sioux County12,57638.17,4147,150
Ida County2,99437.97,1056,793
Plymouth County10,29736.77,1306,871
Clarke County4,00136.36,3345,997
Clay County7,24936.27,5267,193
Harrison County6,00432.96,5046,223
Shelby County4,98332.66,7436,419
Dallas County40,86832.56,5466,224
Monona County3,89132.26,7066,442

Winter disconnections and price in Iowa

Iowa utilities logged 0.12 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.32 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 13.72 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 137 dollars in Iowa.

Iowa in the ranking

Wisconsin is 17th with 423,487 homes (17.3% of its homes). West Virginia is 18th with 328,483 homes (45.5% of its homes). Kansas is 20th with 307,442 homes (26.5% of its homes). Tennessee is 21st with 274,094 homes (9.9% of its homes).

Iowa beside 6 neighbors

Iowa neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Illinois910,21418.2%6,044
Minnesota430,26418.8%8,162
Missouri919,77137.0%4,743
Nebraska245,56031.2%6,208
South Dakota117,03632.6%7,706
Wisconsin423,48717.3%7,487

Look up your Iowa county

  • Pick your Iowa county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many Iowa homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

316,696 homes, 24.3% of 1,303,763 occupied Iowa homes, in 99 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

Which Iowa county has the most electric-heated homes among its cold counties?

Polk County, with 64,131 of its 202,404 homes (32%) at 6,447 normal heating degree days.

Which Iowa county is the coldest, and how many of its homes heat with electricity?

Howard County, at 7,892 normal heating degree days: 416 of 3,672 homes (11%).

How far did the last decade run from the Iowa normal?

Iowa cold counties averaged 4.1% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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316,696 homes in Iowa heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

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Underlying data are U.S. government works (EIA, Census Bureau). Our tables and charts: CC BY 4.0, credit Electric Consumer. The access date fills in when you open this page.

APA

Electric Consumer. (2026). Iowa winter exposure: 316,696 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/iowa.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “Iowa winter exposure: 316,696 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/iowa.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “Iowa winter exposure: 316,696 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/iowa.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_iowa,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {Iowa winter exposure: 316,696 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/iowa.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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