Des Moines / Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge has 24,827 residents (give or take 47) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,551 people per square mile.
Fort Dodge is about 71 miles from the Census center point for Des Moines in a straight line and covers 16.008 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 10,272 occupied homes in Fort Dodge, 71% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 26% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 71% of Fort Dodge against electricity at 26%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Fort Dodge has about the Webster County oil share of 0% and 4 points more electric heat than the county's 22% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US19187, checked 2026-10-19).
Fort Dodge has 11,475 housing units, 32% built before 1940 and 78% before 1980, with 11% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19).
Fort Dodge tracks Webster County on housing age, with the county at 33% pre-1940 and 11% post-2000 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US19187, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Fort Dodge home was built in 1957 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.6 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19).
68% of Fort Dodge homes are single-family detached, 13% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 14% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19).
36% of Fort Dodge homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 68% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Fort Dodge has 8 points fewer detached houses than Webster County overall (76%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US19187, checked 2026-10-19).
32% of Fort Dodge homes were built before 1940 and 78% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19), so insulation is the first sizing question: an older home leaks more heat per square foot, and the installer runs a room-by-room heat-loss calculation to size the system for what the walls and windows actually hold in, not just the floor plan.
MidAmerican Energy lists Fort Dodge among the Iowa communities it serves for electricity (MidAmerican Energy community list, electric communities, https://www.midamericanenergy.com/territory-communitylist, checked 2026-10-19).
MidAmerican 2026 Instant Discount air source heat pump, run by MidAmerican Energy, is a live program for Iowa addresses and covers qualifying equipment at $1,200 per system (registry row 31 verified 2026-10-14, https://www.midamericanenergy.com/home-discounts-and-rebates, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Fort Dodge address before counting it. With 26% of Fort Dodge homes already on electric heat and 73% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Median household income in Fort Dodge is $60,649 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1928515, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
Heating design temperature: -6F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Webster County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 37 to 41 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That -6F figure is the Webster County cold-day number a Fort Dodge heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -6F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 71% of Fort Dodge on gas and 26% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Fort Dodge house from before 1940 (32% of the 11,475 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Fort Dodge. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Fort Dodge yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.