Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 137,935, Cedar Rapids does unevenly: it grades C, 104th among Iowa's 140 graded towns. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 85% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: its schools rank behind 88% of the state's, and its police reported 362 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 81% of U.S. towns. 57% of working residents work locally in Cedar Rapids, against 31% in Iowa’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include George B. Douglas House and Caroline Sinclair Mansion (Additional Documentation).
Where Cedar Rapids beats most towns.
Paramount Theater Building| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Kirkwood Community College | 9,860 |
| Coe College | 1,278 |
| Mount Mercy University | 1,252 |
Its 63 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Iowa towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,830 in 1860, 137,710 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and 5 maps from 1888 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Cedar Rapids is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cedar Rapids, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Cedar Rapids.
Cedar Rapids draws workers from Marion and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and costs less than Hiawatha or any other town next door.
94,098 jobs are based in Cedar Rapids, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Cedar Rapids’ average trip to work is 19 minutes. The top destinations are Marion (5%), Hiawatha (4%) and Iowa City (4%).
| Cedar Rapids | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 13% | 8.5% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Cedar Rapids Community School District. Three of its 54 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie PointLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 868 | B− |
| Prairie High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,766 | B |
| Westfield Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 445 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
46 miles of trail in 86 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Seminole Valley Park, 359 acres with 1.6 miles of trail.
| Cedar Rapids | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.2% | 3.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sac and Fox Trail City Park | 6.2 mi | 336 |
| 2. Noelridge Park | 1.7 mi | 96 |
| 3. Seminole Valley Park | 1.6 mi | 359 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 4,324 to 3,275 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Cedar Rapids is 21.1 per 1,000 residents. Cedar Rapids reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 81% report less. The violent crime rate in Cedar Rapids is 2.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Cedar Rapids | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 21.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Cedar Rapids has cold winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 11° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
898 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 18 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 898 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cedar Rapids.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 10,546 U.S. towns with household incomes like Cedar Rapids’s, it is healthier than 77%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
Cedar Rapids beats the Iowa average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 20% of adults binge drink in Cedar Rapids. Among 140 Iowa towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Cedar Rapids.
| Cedar Rapids | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 20% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 21% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 32% | 36% |
| What stands out | Cedar Rapids | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with high blood pressure | 30.7% | 33.9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.8% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Hiawatha is next at $262K.
The typical Cedar Rapids home is worth about $216,000, up 2.2% in a year, 9% below the Iowa typical home.
| Cedar Rapids | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $967 a month | $909 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 70% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 45% | 42% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Iowa average. 33% of Cedar Rapids adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Cedar Rapids | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 25% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.3 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 21% | 23% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 19% | 18% |
50.4% women, 49.6% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.5 points. Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.6, men 36.9.
| Cedar Rapids | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.9% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.9% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.9% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.3% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.3% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.9% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.3% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.4% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.1% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.3% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.9% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cedar Rapids. Close and well known come first.
22 mi Stadium & arenaKinnick Stadium
27 mi MuseumHerbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
in town MuseumNational Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
22 mi Stadium & arenaCarver–Hawkeye Arena
26 mi National Historic SiteHerbert Hoover National Historic Site107K visitors a year
in town MuseumMuseum of Art Cedar RapidsKinnick Stadium: Count_de_Des_Moines (talk) (Uploads), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum: Shadow2700, Public domain · National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library: ArtisticAbode, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Carver–Hawkeye Arena: Asolsma1988, CC0 · Herbert Hoover National Historic Site: Billwhittaker, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Museum of Art Cedar Rapids: ericjames, CC BY 3.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Cedar Rapids
About 6 of every 100 Cedar Rapids residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Iowa.
3 colleges in town.
63 places in Cedar Rapids on the National Register of Historic Places.
41 notable people were born in Cedar Rapids.
City in Iowa, United States
Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and the county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 137,935 in 2025. making it the second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 128 miles (206 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital. Cedar Rapids is the economic hub of Eastern Iowa, located at the core of the Interstate 380 corridor. The population of the three-county Cedar Rapids metropolitan area, which includes the nearby cities of Marion and Hiawatha, was 276,520 in 2020. The Cedar Rapids metropolitan area is also part of a combined statistical area with …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Cedar Rapids.
| Town | IA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids | #104 | C | B | C− | D | B |
| Marion | #31 | A | B− | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Hiawatha | #107 | C | B | C | D | B |
| Robins | #89 | B− | C+ | — | D | A |
| Fairfax | #82 | B− | C+ | — | C | A− |
| Bertram | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Robins and Fairfax report no FBI crime data of their own. Bertram isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Cedar Rapids with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cedar Rapids grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #104 of 140 in Iowa. It grades B for health, C− for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2.8 years of the area's median household income ($78,080 across the Cedar Rapids, IA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
41 notable people were born here, including Elijah Wood and Ashton Kutcher.
