For the voters who say they plan to attend the Republican caucuses in Iowa, economic concerns are far less pronounced than elsewhere across the country. The latest New York Times/CBS News poll found that 19 percent of people likely to attend caucuses said they were very concerned that someone in their household could lose their job in the next year, while nationally that figure is about twice as high.

Moreover, the poll found that nearly 90 percent of those likely to take part in the caucuses described their family’s financial situation as good, which is about 20 points higher than all Americans.

At Ulrich’s Meat Market here in Pella, a town of 10,000, Joe Becker, the owner, said he was enjoying an unusually profitable year, a sentiment echoed by other business owners lining the vibrant Dutch-style center square. “We live in a bubble in this town,” he said. “You’d never know anything was wrong.”

Mr. Becker said that he remained undecided about which candidate to support (several have stopped by the store), and that he would like to see the remaining contenders spend a little less time talking about unemployment. “I realize the jobs thing is very important,” he said. “But there’s a whole bunch of other things that are not good.”

Doug Gross, a prominent Iowa Republican who supported Mr. Romney in the 2008 election but is currently not affiliated with any candidate, said he believed that the state’s relative economic health had encouraged more conversation about other issues, like immigration, same-sex marriage and abortion.

“It’s a broader debate than you’re going to see elsewhere,” Mr. Gross said. “It’s still the most important issue,” he said of the economy, “but it’s not the only issue. That separates us from other states.”