About Norway

Norway is a very small town located in the state of Iowa. With a population of 1,175 people and just one neighborhood, Norway is the 283rd largest community in Iowa. Norway has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.

Norway is neither predominently blue-collar or white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Norway is a town of sales and office workers, managers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Norway who work in office and administrative support jobs (16.92%), management occupations (9.45%), and food service (9.12%).

Another important characteristic of Norway is that a lot of people work in agricultural jobs, especially compared to most other communities in America, and there are quite a number of farms in town.

A relatively large number of people in Norway telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.86% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Norway is a very car-oriented town. 98.18% of residents commute to work in a private automobile rather than by other means, such as public transit, bicycling, or walking. This is because Norway is a small town, and most people who live here have to drive out of town for work, and the town population is not large nor dense enough to support an extensive public transportation system. Norway has a lot of rural roads, and houses can be far apart. Many residents drive out of town for regular shopping trips as well.

As is often the case in a small town, Norway doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Norway Information and Demographics

In terms of college education, Norway is nearly on par with the US average for all cities of 14.96%: 14.19% of adults 25 and older in Norway have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Norway in 2000 was $19,739, which is upper middle income relative to Iowa and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $78,956 for a family of four.

The people who call Norway home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Norway is White, followed by African-American. Important ancestries of people in Norway include German, Irish, Norwegian, Czech, and English.

The most common language spoken in Norway is English.