The Little Sioux and Ocheyedan rivers flow into each other in Spencer, a northwest Iowa city where roots run deep. “I was born and raised here, graduated from high school here, and a lot of my classmates are still around,” says Bryan Sebastian, Realtor with Northwest Iowa Realty. Home to the largest county fair in the state, the Clay County seat is also a hotspot for farm equipment manufacturers and food processors. A new emergency department at Spencer Hospital strengthens a growing healthcare sector. Sebastian recounts a story of a couple who traveled to similar cities throughout the region before deciding to settle down in Spencer. “About a week after I gave them a tour, they called me up and said, ‘We are going to buy a house with you today.’” Bryan says. “These were people who compared us and graded us against so many communities from North Dakota all the way down and around back to Iowa. They’re still an amazing, thriving couple in our community today.”
Spencer is home to about 11,500 people.
The confluence of the Ocheyedan and Little Sioux Rivers is in Spencer.
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Recovery progress following the "perfect storm" of 2024
Disaster struck Spencer in June 2024, when much of the city was submerged in a flash flood originating from both rivers. It was the largest recorded flood in the city since 1953. “Recovery-wise, my phone is just full of good, bad, and tearjerking moments,” Sebastian says. “There are portions of Spencer that are in a floodplain area, but this flood was so massive, they called it the perfect storm. About 13 or 14 things had to come together for it to happen in the manner that it did.” Most businesses along South Grand Avenue have reopened, though some will never return due to the damages. FEMA departed in October, but the Spencer Chamber of Commerce continues to collect donations toward recovery efforts. “We take it one day at a time," Sebastian says. "There’s a lot of rebuilding to be done yet, but the flood of 2024 is not going to stop Spencer." City officials estimated that more than three-quarters of Spencer's 5,000 structures were damaged either by flood waters themselves or backed-up sewage.
Homes through the eras in Spencer
The median home price in Spencer is around $180,000, less than half the national value and lower than Sioux City and Sioux Falls, about 100 miles away. Homes run the gamut from the early 1900s through the 2000s. Ranch-style homes fill the space between American Foursquares and folk-style homes along the central gridded streets, while the newest subdivisions and developments in progress are on the outskirts of town. Iowa Department of Public Safety data shows that both crimes against people and property crimes spiked in 2020, but overall trended upward by 5.8 percent and downward by 30 percent respectively between 2019 and 2023.
Older Spencer homes have so much character and charm.
Modern and contemporary homes give Spencer residents new housing options.
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Art Deco downtown and big box shopping
Many downtown Spencer storefronts were rebuilt in the Art Deco style following a fire in 1931. The area is now on the National Register of Historic Places. A Kwik Star convenience store arrived in 2024, joining other regional and national chains. “Our shopping mall got wiped out in the flood, though the theater is back open,” Sebastian says. “We’re blessed to have a pretty good-sized Menards and a few anchor businesses in town. My son and I own a little car wash, we perk along in our little community.”
Downtown Spencer includes many Art-Deco style buildings that were built after a huge fire in the 1930s.
Menards is one of several large stores that makes shopping convenient for Spencer residents.
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Over 400 acres of Spencer Parks & Recreation
The 12-mile Spencer Recreational Trail bridges the Little Sioux and connects many hotspots within the city’s park system. At the center is East Leach Park, where a campground and shelter house a large playground, skatepark and tree-canopied band shell. Lakefront recreation at Stolley Park is alongside an 18-hole course at Spencer Golf and Country Club, and Spencer Public Library cut the ribbon on its Musical Garden in 2024. A statue in the library depicts Dewey Readmore Books, an adopted cat who served as staff supervisor until his passing in 2006. His legacy is immortalized in public art throughout the city and national bestseller, “Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World.”
Paved trails follow the Little Sioux River through the heart of Spencer.
Dewey Readmore Books was a famous library cat that took the world by storm in the 1980s and 90s.
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From grade school to higher education in Spencer
The Spencer Community School District scores a B-minus rating from Niche. Public school students attend five schools between prekindergarten to 12th grade. “Our high school offers college credit courses as soon as sophomore or junior year, cost-free,” Sebastian says. “Open enrollment is a thing too because we’re a rural area. Kids from outlying communities drive themselves, but buses go around and pick them up as well.” Iowa Lakes Community College also operates a campus out of Spencer.
Spencer High School is known for academic excellence and athletic success.
Iowa Lake Community College has a small campus on the north side of Spencer.
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Getting around Spencer and beyond
U.S. Routes 71 and 18 intersect in Spencer, and it’s over 100 miles to major metropolitan areas. Most drive to work or to do errands, though folks can schedule bus pickup through Rides, a nonprofit regional transit system. “We have a regional airport in town big enough to land a (Boeing) 727 on,” Sebastian says. “You’ll see Learjets and turboprops popping in. The community college has an aviation program to help students become pilots. But if you needed to get on a big plane and go somewhere, you’d do that out of either Des Moines or Sioux Falls.”
County fair is largest in Iowa and among nation's biggest
“We’re a designated Flag City, and every year the second weekend in June, the city fills with hundreds, if not thousands of flags,” Sebastian says. The Clay County Fair is both the largest of its kind in Iowa and one of the largest in the United States, stretching over nine days. Live music on the grandstand overlooks ferris wheel, vendors and a massive agricultural expo.
Written By
Emma Downes
Photography Contributed By
Drew Davis
Video By
Matt Pangman
Interested in learning more about homes in this area?
Reach out to
Aaron Jones,
an experienced agent in this area.
On average, homes in Spencer, IA sell after 60 days on the market compared to the national average of 52 days. The median sale price for homes in Spencer, IA over the last 12 months is $169,900, down 19% from the median home sale price over the previous 12 months.
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