Cedar Falls is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Cedar Falls have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Cedar Falls’s economy is one such example of this.
Cedar Falls, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 15.55 minutes getting to work every day.
Cedar Falls is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 49.14% of adults in Cedar Falls have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.
The per capita income in Cedar Falls in 2022 was $39,242, which is wealthy relative to Iowa, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $156,968 for a family of four. However, Cedar Falls contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Cedar Falls home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Cedar Falls residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Cedar Falls include German, Irish, English, Norwegian, and Italian.
The most common language spoken in Cedar Falls is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Urdu.
