Orange City celebrates growing diverse population

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — Though Orange City is known for its Dutch roots, the community is recognizing its growing diverse population.

“Even though it’s a small town, there is an opportunity to welcome people who are new to this small town,” The Same House CEO Rodney Bullard said. “Whether it be a Hispanic community that is new to this town, or whether it be a gentleman who is from Perth, Australia that we met today who is new to this town, there’s an opportunity to continue to grow stronger.”

In the last decade, Orange City’s population has seen an increase of newcomers from all over the world, and it’s not hard to see why people want to call the small town their home.

“We have zero unemployment in Sioux County and we have a lot of agriculture jobs,” Neighbor to Neighbor committee member Anita Bomgaars said. “People new to our country are familiar with agricultural jobs, so they are drawn by that. Secondly, they are drawn by friendly, safe communities, and thirdly they know we have a good school system, and if you want a family life here in the United States, many are willing to endure winter to experience life here in the small town.”

Since 2000, Orange City’s school district population has grown from 3.7 percent minority representation to now having 25 percent of the student population identifying as not-white, with ten countries being represented in the public elementary school alone.

“I’m thinking of the challenge of being able to teach everybody. That should be celebrated,” Bomgaars said. “I’m thinking of people who are my age or older learning how to use the translator app as they approach people who speak Vietnamese or Spanish or Ukrainian. It’s just a great way to showcase who we are in northwest Iowa and how we have had to change and how we are meeting the challenge.”

As Orange City continues to welcome newcomers, the community is figuring out ways to ensure that every resident has a place they belong.

“The more our community continues to grow, we have to look at different populations, whether that’s Ukrainian, Hispanic, Dutchman, whatever you have, wherever those people are coming from,” the city’s Chamber of Commerce executive director Mike Hofman said. “We want to welcome them and get them involved in our not-for-profit organizations, our events such as the Tulip Festival, our churches, our businesses, our schools. We want to just integrate those people and have them be a part of our community.”

Orange City’s population has increased by 2.55 percent since the 2020 census .

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