The population was 6,726 in the 2020 Census;[2] Eldridge is a rural community and part of the Quad Cities metropolitan area.

Jacob M. Eldridge, the city's namesake, arrived in central Scott County in 1846, having purchased land for $1.25 per acre.

The railroad faltered financially during the 1880s and was re-located to Oxford Junction, while a smallpox epidemic several years later was said to have totally isolated the city.

Each time, the city recovered, and the farming community maintained its status as a grain and livestock shipping center.

The city began growing in population during the 1950s, starting with the formation of the Scott County Library System (a countywide network of libraries serving smaller communities in the area) in 1950, and the North Scott Community School District in 1956.

By the late 1960s, the population had grown to more than 1,000 residents, and with the creation of several industrial parks to encourage new business development, the city continued to grow.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.48 square miles (24.55 km2), all land.

Eldridge has a mayor-council form of government with a mayor and five city council members.

City council meetings are conducted bi-monthly on the first and third Mondays of each month at the Eldridge Community Center.

The other four elementary schools in the district are in the outlying communities of Donahue, Long Grove, Park View and Princeton.

Residents are represented by a seven-member board of education, which conducts bi-monthly meetings on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at the Administration Center.

In Promised Land (2012 film), Matt Damon's character, Steve Butler, is from the area of Eldridge, Iowa.