Beauty and personal care · Small-town market · Iowa
Hair salons in the Storm Lake, IA area
How the Storm Lake, IA area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for hair salons: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 30 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #473 of 538 scored small-town markets
#11 of 15 scored small-town markets based in Iowa
- Listings
- 21
- 3 chain locations (14%)
- Official establishments
- 7
- Businesses with payroll, 2023
- Household spending a year
- $7.3M
- On personal care products and services · $972 a household
- Spending per listing
- $349K
- 19% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 27.8
- 19% above the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 20,449
- −1.7% since 2020
See the hair salons around any address in the Storm Lake area
The site report maps the hair salons on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Storm Lake area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
For hair salons, the Storm Lake area has a Groundwork market score of 30 (lower middle): #473 of 538 scored small-town markets and #11 of 15 scored small-town markets based in Iowa. That puts it in the bottom quarter of small-town markets.
Household spending on personal care products and services in the Storm Lake area comes to about $7.3M a year: $972 per household, 3% below the U.S. average. That is about $349K of household spending for each salon on map listings, 19% below the U.S. figure of $430K. The spending figure covers all personal care products and services, not only hair salons.
There are 21 hair salons on map listings in the Storm Lake area as of September 2026. 3 of them (14%) are chain locations, against 14% across the U.S. That is 27.8 per 10,000 households, 19% above the U.S. rate of 23.4.
The official count of businesses with payroll classed as beauty salons in the Storm Lake area was 7 in 2023. That is one for every 1,078 households, against one for every 1,535 across the U.S. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Storm Lake area declined 1.7%, against +3.1% for the U.S.
How the Storm Lake area compares
The same measures for Iowa and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all personal care products and services by the hair salons counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.
| Measure | Storm Lake area | Iowa | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 27.8 | 23.5 | 23.4 |
| Spending per listing | $349K | $422K | $430K |
| Households per official establishment | 1,078 | 1,653 | 1,535 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | −2.1% | +6.0% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −1.7% | +1.5% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on personal care products and services | $972 | $990 | $1,005 |
| Median household income | $71,719 | $75,059 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 30 | 39 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 7
- Employees, 2023
- 27
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $1.2M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 39Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 213 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 17The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 0
- Amount
- $0
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as beauty salons in the Storm Lake area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.
Population and households in the Storm Lake area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 20,449−1.7% since 2020
- Households
- 7,546
- Median age
- 36.5
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 73%
- Vehicles per household
- 2.1
- Land area
- 575 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 36
- Median household income
- $71,719+25.6% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $94,361
- Median home value
- $159,500
- Jobs located here
- 11,467
- Daytime population
- 22,374Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Storm Lake area?
These figures cover the whole small-town market. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the hair salons on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Storm Lake area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardHair salons across Iowa
Every Iowa market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in Iowa for hair salons, numbered among those based in Iowa, with the Storm Lake area marked.
Top small-town markets in Iowa
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Pella, IA | 70 | 23 | 17.3 | $581K | +2.3% | #53 of 538 |
| 2Marshalltown, IA | 70 | 28 | 18.1 | $520K | −0.5% | #56 of 538 |
| 3Le Mars, IA | 65 | 24 | 23.3 | $437K | 0.0% | #96 of 538 |
| 4Clinton, IA | 60 | 40 | 20.5 | $458K | −0.9% | #153 of 538 |
| 5Spirit Lake, IA | 58 | 21 | 23.7 | $429K | +1.7% | #178 of 538 |
| 6Muscatine, IA | 54 | 38 | 21.9 | $428K | −3.0% | #229 of 538 |
| 7Fort Dodge, IA | 48 | 33 | 21.5 | $423K | −0.4% | #294 of 538 |
| 8Spencer, IA | 45 | 17 | 23.3 | $395K | −0.8% | #326 of 538 |
| 9Ottumwa, IA | 39 | 33 | 23.6 | $379K | −0.3% | #391 of 538 |
| 10Carroll, IA | 31 | 24 | 27.3 | $354K | −2.0% | #469 of 538 |
| 11Storm Lake, IA | 30 | 21 | 27.8 | $349K | −1.7% | #473 of 538 |
Other business types in the Storm Lake area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
- Salons, barbers and spas39
- Hair salons30
- Barbershops
- Nail salons
- Spas and skin care36
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many hair salons are in the Storm Lake, IA area?
As of September 2026, map listings count 21 hair salons in the Storm Lake area. 3 of them (14%) are chain locations. The listings count hair and beauty salons. Official counts show 7 businesses with payroll classed as beauty salons in 2023. Another 39 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in the Storm Lake, IA area spend on personal care products and services?
About $7.3M a year, or $972 per household. That is 3% below the U.S. average (an index of 97, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 21 hair salons on map listings, it comes to $349K per salon. That spending covers all personal care products and services, which hair salons share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 7,546 households in the Storm Lake area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Storm Lake, IA area compare with the U.S. for hair salons?
The Storm Lake area has 27.8 hair salons per 10,000 households, 19% above the U.S. rate of 23.4. Spending per salon is $349K, 19% below the U.S. figure of $430K. At the U.S. ratio of hair salons to household spending, the Storm Lake area would have about 17, against 21 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,078 households, against one for every 1,535 across the U.S.
How fast is the Storm Lake, IA area growing?
Population estimates put the Storm Lake area at 20,449 people in 2025, down 1.7% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 7,546 households. Median household income in the Storm Lake area is $71,719, 11% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 25.6%, before inflation.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Storm Lake area scores 30 for hair salons (lower middle), #473 of 538 scored small-town markets.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Storm Lake area. It maps the hair salons on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for hair salons · All 56 business types in the Storm Lake area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Storm Lake area?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of the Storm Lake area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.