Des Moines / Le Mars
Le Mars has 10,640 residents (give or take 28) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1944400, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,211 people per square mile.
Le Mars is about 156 miles from the Census center point for Des Moines in a straight line and covers 8.785 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 4,342 occupied homes in Le Mars, 57% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 41% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1944400, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 57% of Le Mars against electricity at 41%, 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.
Le Mars has about the Plymouth County oil share of 1% and 3 points more electric heat than the county's 38% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US19149, checked 2026-10-19).
Le Mars has 4,512 housing units, 17% built before 1940 and 58% before 1980, with 17% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1944400, checked 2026-10-19).
Le Mars has 7 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Plymouth County as a whole (24%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US19149, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Le Mars home was built in 1975 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1944400, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.8 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1944400, checked 2026-10-19).
63% of Le Mars homes are single-family detached, 9% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 16% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1944400, checked 2026-10-19).
39% of Le Mars homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1944400, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 63% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Le Mars has 16 points fewer detached houses than Plymouth County overall (79%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US19149, checked 2026-10-19).
MidAmerican Energy lists Le Mars 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 Le Mars address before counting it. With 41% of Le Mars homes already on electric heat and 58% 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 Le Mars is $74,701 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1944400, 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: -5F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Plymouth 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 -5F figure is the Plymouth County cold-day number a Le Mars heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -5F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 57% of Le Mars on gas and 41% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Le Mars home has 5.8 rooms and was built around 1975, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Le Mars. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Le Mars yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.