Altoona is a medium-sized city located in the state of Iowa. With a population of 21,503 people and four associated neighborhoods, Altoona is the 27th largest community in Iowa. There's nothing like the smell of a brand new house, and in Altoona, you'll find that a large proportion of houses were recently built. New growth in residential real estate is an indication that people are choosing to move to Altoona, and putting down their money on brand new construction. Altoona’s real estate is, on average, some of the newest in the nation. Altoona does seem to be experiencing an influx of affluent people, because the median household income is $89,100.00.

Altoona real estate is some of the most expensive in Iowa, although Altoona house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.

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

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 10.46% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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.

The overall education level of Altoona citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 32.57% of adults in Altoona have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.

The per capita income in Altoona in 2022 was $41,206, which is wealthy relative to Iowa, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $164,824 for a family of four. However, Altoona contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Altoona is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Altoona home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Altoona residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Altoona include German, English, Irish, Dutch, and European.

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