Wanted: help from Iowa's graduates

Our state lags in important ways. Smart, motivated young folks are a resource of hope for our future.

Kathy and I were privileged to be on hand for a grandson’s high school commencement ceremony at Adel-De Soto-Minburn (ADM) High School in Adel last Sunday. The event was hugely attended, impressive, and full of joy for the graduates, their classmates, families, and friends.

The end of a high school career is always a whirlwind for high school seniors. In a few years they probably won’t remember much about the ceremony, embedded as it was in the excitement of the season and the congratulatory family reception that often follows it.

The only thing I remember about my high school commencement back in 1959 is a quote from our ceremony’s guest speaker. He said, “If you don’t remember anything else I say here today, remember this:”.

That’s it. I forget what he said I was supposed to remember.

Anyway, I watched the ADM graduates file in and file out, with the ADM band playing “Pomp and Circumstance,” and I ruminated: what would I want to say to an Iowa high school graduating class?

I decided it was this: Iowa needs your help.

We’re lagging in several areas, and not making much satisfactory progress.

Iowa’s government, and hundreds of its communities, spend millions upon millions of dollars annually trying to keep the state’s head above water—in economic health, personal health, educational health, agricultural health, recreational health, hospitality health, and yes, water health too.

Many thousands of Iowans willingly donate volunteer hours to those goals as well. But despite all the good intentions, we’re not gaining on most of the rest of the country or even on our neighboring states.

Take median household income. For a family of three, the national figure is $103,668 per year. Iowa’s median figure is $98,013 per year, a number that ranks us 28th in the nation. That’s lower than Minnesota ($121,094), Wisconsin ($107,009), Illinois ($106,922), and Nebraska ($100,273). Only South Dakota ($97,793) and Missouri ($96,521) rank lower than Iowa among our six contiguous states, and not by very much.

Our gross domestic product (GDP) ranking probably has a lot to do with our ho-hum income picture. Iowa’s GDP in fourth quarter 2025 grew only 1.16% from our state’s GDP level a year earlier, in fourth quarter 2024. That’s a lower growth rate than ANY of our contiguous states.

Here’s the sad GDP growth truth: Minnesota 1.65%, Illinois 1.62%, Wisconsin 1.47%, Nebraska 1.42%, South Dakota 1.38%, Missouri 1.32%.

The health of Iowa’s streams, rivers, and lakes? It’s no secret they’re filthy—many of them unfit for usage without major expensive treatment, and unhealthy for native creatures. We contribute a significant portion of the toxic chemicals that feed the Dead Zone just beyond the Mississippi Delta off Louisiana’s coast, most of them the result of agricultural runoff, as documented by Iowa State University.

And Iowa ranks at the very top in cancer prevalence. I didn’t smoke, but 15 years ago part of my right lung was removed because of cancer. The cause in my case is unknown. Does application of chemicals to farm fields play a role? Is radon a factor? Theories abound, but no one knows, and meanwhile cancer continues to rage.

But at least our people are known to be “Iowa Nice,” right? Well, maybe not.

A recent poll, taken from a tabulation of impressions of large numbers of tourists nationwide, found Iowa to be the 29th friendliest state to travelers and newcomers. Once again, we came in dead last among our contiguous states.

Minnesota was dubbed The Nation’s Friendliness State. They’re Number One. Apparently “Minnesota Nice” really means something. The other states bordering Iowa finished as follows: Nebraska 13th, Illinois 14th, South Dakota 20th, Missouri 22nd, and Wisconsin 26th.

Why aren’t we more like Minnesota?

I could go on, but there’s no point to so doing. We need some help. Iowa’s state government leaders haven’t found the magic secret, either because they’re looking in the wrong places or they prefer not to look in the right ones.

Iowa doesn’t have a major metropolitan city. Nor does it have mountains, a seashore, perpetually pleasant weather, or nationally recognized historic attractions.

But it does have incredibly rich soil, hundreds of proud communities, hard-working employers and employees, and three million-plus people, most of whom would like to do the right thing for themselves, their families, their friends, and others whom they can call neighbors regardless of who they are or where they come from.

The state needs to tap those assets for a more pleasing and prosperous future than where we now find ourselves. Young high school graduates with their education, their high-tech skills, and their promise for a more productive economy can be a vital component toward that goal. Their efforts, including their active participation in Iowa’s political world, would contribute enormously to the state’s future.

That would be my message to a high school graduating class, right after “If you don’t remember else I say here today, remember this:”.

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