Ames is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Iowa. With a population of 50,656 people and 14 constituent neighborhoods, Ames is the 9th largest community in Iowa.

Ames is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 87.45% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Ames is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Ames who work in teaching (15.21%), office and administrative support jobs (14.34%), and sales jobs (10.17%).

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Ames has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Also of interest is that Ames has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

In addition, Ames is a major college town that has a very high percentage of its residents over 18 years old who are college students. Naturally, collegiate life has a major influence on local Ames culture, lifestyle and entertainment options. Ames really pulses to the beat of the academic calendar. In Ames every fall, returning students reinvigorate the community, who you will notice are all over town, buying groceries, out with friends, and getting acquainted or re-acquainted with each other and Ames. One of the beneficial effects that colleges provide is that they tend to be lasting institutions that deliver direct economic benefits to the local economy in the form of such things as jobs for faculty and staff, and spending by students. Ames benefits directly from this.

Not only is Ames a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a decent-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. This makes it a good choice for other relocating single professionals. Here, these young singles will find many others like themselves, with opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

One of the benefits of Ames is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 15.02 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.

Ames Information and Demographics

Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Ames, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Ames is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 58.60% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 14.96%.

The per capita income in Ames in 2000 was $18,881, which is upper middle income relative to Iowa and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $75,524 for a family of four.

Ames is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Ames home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Ames is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Ames include German, Irish, Norwegian, English, Swedish, and Dutch.

The most common language spoken in Ames is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.