Zearing was formed out of Lincoln Township, being founded on October 17, 1881 and incorporated on February 6, 1883. It was named for William Mitchell Zearing, a judge from Chicago who donated a bell to the first church in the community.
Celebration
The city celebrates Zearing Days Celebration festival during the last weekend in July. This celebration used to be held to commemorate Labor Day, but had not been put on since the 1980s, that was until 2000 when a group of Zearing residents decided to start the tradition again. Once started back up again, the first celebration -Just Horsin' Around- was titled in honor of the late Dick Sparrow's 40 horse hitch. This celebration was a one-day event in July that has now grown into a three-day event.
Education
Zearing is served by the Colo-NESCO Community School District. The district was established on July 1, 1991 by the merger of the Colo and NESCO school districts, with the latter serving McCallsburg and Zearing; NESCO was an acronym for Northeast Story County. Zearing's facility houses the elementary learning center. The district's central office is based in Colo, as well as the district's high school.
Geography
Zearing is located at . Zearing is located 10 miles north of U.S. Route 30, along U.S. Route 65, 14 miles east of Interstate 35 on Story Co Rd E-18. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all land.
As of the census of 2010, there were 554 people, 219 households, and 146 families living in the city. The population density was. There were 245 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 99.6% White, 0.2% African American, and 0.2% from two or more races. There were 219 households of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couplesliving together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.3% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age in the city was 39 years. 25.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.6% were from 25 to 44; 22.4% were from 45 to 64; and 20.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.0% male and 50.0% female.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 617 people, 229 households, and 158 families living in the city. The population density was 828.4 people per square mile. There were 249 housing units at an average density of 334.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 97.57% White, 0.16% African American, 0.81% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.16% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.65% of the population. There were 229 households out of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.6% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.13. 26.6% are under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $37,614, and the median income for a family was $45,156. Males had a median income of $30,398 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,615. None of the families and 3.2% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 1.6% of those over 64.
