
Waukee is a city in
Dallas County,
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The population was 23,940 at the time of the
2020 U.S. Census.
It is part of the
Des Moines
Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
–
West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In 2017,
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...
chose Waukee as the location of a massive $1.38 billion data center campus.
History
Waukee was laid out as a town in 1869. It is thought to be named after The
Milwaukee Road
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States from 1847 ...
Railroad. Waukee was incorporated on December 23, 1878.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
It is known for its
Waukee Stadium.
Climate
Humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. The
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
subtype for this climate is "
Dfa" (Hot summer, continental climate).
Education
The Waukee Community School District is the fastest-growing school district in the state of Iowa with more than 2,200 staff members serving more than 13,600 students in grades preschool through twelfth grade.
Its schools serve students from Clive, Urbandale, Waukee, and West Des Moines as well as open enrollment students from other communities outside the 55 square miles of its district boundaries.
There are currently ten elementary schools, two middle schools (grades 6/7), and two middle schools (grades 8/9) in Waukee as well as the
Waukee High School and Waukee Northwest High School.
The Vincent Meyer Learning Center.
The district built a second high school, called Waukee Northwest High School, which opened in the 2021 school year. The Waukee warriors got the name after the Norwalk Warriors had to give them jerseys because they did not have any.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2020, there were 23,940 people, 9,107 households, and 6,208 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was 1,151.0 inhabitants per square mile (444.4/km
2). There were 9,831 housing units at an average density of 472.7 per square mile (182.5/km
2). The
racial
Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...
makeup of the city was 83.1%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 3.7%
Black or African American, 0.3%
Native American, 5.3%
Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.5% from other races and 6.0% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino persons of any race comprised 5.2% of the population.
Of the 9,107 households, 40.2% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 6.8% were cohabitating couples, 24.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 14.1% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 31.8% of all households were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older.
The median age in the city was 33.9 years. 31.0% of the residents were under the age of 20; 5.3% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 32.5% were from 25 and 44; 20.0% were from 45 and 64; and 11.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.5% male and 51.5% female.
2010 U.S. Census
As of the
2010 United States Census,
there were 13,790 people, 5,154 households, and 3,689 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 5,378 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.9% white, 1.3% African American, 0.2% Native American, 2.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.9% from other races and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.0% of the population.
There were 5,154 households, of which 44.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 28.4% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.19.
The median age in the city was 31.8 years. 32% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 36.3% were from 25 to 44; 18.5% were from 45 to 64; and 8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.6% male and 51.4% female.
2000 U.S. Census
As of the
2000 United States Census,
there were 5,126 people, 1,927 households, and 1,445 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 2,087 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.17% white, 0.43% African American, 0.57% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population.
There were 1,927 households, out of which 43.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.8% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.4% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 36.4% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $58,024, and the median income for a family was $64,362. Males had a median income of $38,958 and females had a median income of $30,898. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $24,351. About 2.1% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
HIRTA provides
demand response
Demand response is a change in the power consumption of an electric utility customer to better match the demand for power with the supply. Until the 21st century decrease in the cost of pumped storage and batteries, electric energy could not b ...
service in Waukee. However, as of 2023, Waukee is the largest city in Iowa without fixed-route public transit service.
Des Moines Area Regional Transit serves
Clive approximately half a mile from Waukee with the Route 92 express service.
Notable people
*
Paul Gregory — film, Television and stage producer
*
Joey Jordison
Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison (April 26, 1975 – July 26, 2021) was an American musician. He was the original drummer of the nu metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, and the guitarist for the horror punk Supergroup ...
— former
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...
for the band
Slipknot
*
Jake Knott — former
Iowa State and
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
linebacker
*
Talia Leman — CEO and a founder of RandomKid, an organization that empowers young people to do good deeds
*
Hal Manders —
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
; born in Waukee
*
Anthony Nelson - former
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
and current
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...
linebacker
*
Ken Smith — internationally acclaimed
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...
; born in Waukee
See also
*
Raccoon River Valley Trail
References
External links
City of Waukee, Iowa WebsiteChamber of commerceWaukee Community School DistrictComprehensive Statistical Data and more about Waukee
ePodunk:Profile for Waukee, Iowa, IAWaukee 2nd High School Project
{{authority control
Cities in Iowa
Cities in Dallas County, Iowa
Des Moines metropolitan area
1869 establishments in Iowa
Populated places established in 1869