Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Davenport earns a D, ranked 135th of 140 in Iowa, mostly because of schools and safety. Its schools rank behind 97% of the state's. Its police reported 657 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 94% of U.S. towns. In its favor, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 78% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 94% of U.S. towns, with 254 places on the National Register. 47% of working residents work locally in Davenport, where Iowa’s towns sit at 31% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Antoine LeClaire House and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. Among 115 Iowa towns, just 2 have a higher violent crime rate than Davenport.
Where Davenport beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Antoine LeClaire House| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Eastern Iowa Community College District | 5,075 |
| Saint Ambrose University | 2,468 |
| Palmer College of Chiropractic | 2,213 |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Wilson Elementary School | K–5 | 507 |
| Adams Elementary School | K–5 | 498 |
| Harrison Elementary School | K–5 | 459 |
Its founding year, 1836, comes before those of 95% of the Iowa towns we grade with a known year. Its 254 National Register listings are more than in any other Iowa town with a listing.
Census counts: 1,848 in 1850, 101,724 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1800 and 5 maps from 1891 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Davenport is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Davenport. Close and well known come first.
4 mi Ancient siteRock Island Arsenal
in town MuseumFigge Art Museum77K visitors a year
6 mi MuseumBlack Hawk State Historic Site
39 mi MuseumHerbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
in town MuseumPutnam Museum
39 mi National Historic SiteHerbert Hoover National Historic Site107K visitors a yearRock Island Arsenal: Robert A, Ryan, J. Ceronia, and Bruce A. Harms, Photographers, Public domain · Figge Art Museum: Ctjf83, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Black Hawk State Historic Site: Bill Whittaker (talk). Original uploader was Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum: Shadow2700, Public domain · Putnam Museum: Ctjf83 of English Wikipedia (log), Public domain · Herbert Hoover National Historic Site: Billwhittaker, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Davenport, 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 Davenport.
Davenport has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of Iowa; it also reports violent crime at about twice the Iowa rate and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Its public schools are run by the Davenport Community School District. Two of its 29 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sudlow Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 734 | C− |
| West High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,304 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 6.5 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Iowa rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D. Each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Bettendorf (B+) to Buffalo (A+).
The property crime rate in Davenport is 31.6 per 1,000 residents. Davenport reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 94% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
42 miles of trail in 49 parks and preserves. Credit Island Park, at 317 acres with 2.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Davenport’s trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Davenport | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 3.1% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sunderbruch Park | 9.3 mi | 136 |
| 2. Nahant Marsh | 2.5 mi | 300 |
| 3. Credit Island Park | 2.4 mi | 317 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 14.2°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 91% of Iowa places with climate records; July afternoons average 84.2°.
Davenport has cold, snowy winters and warm summers. About 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Davenport | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 14°F | 12°F | 22°F |
| July high | 84°F | 84°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Davenport home is worth about $194,000, up 3.8% in a year, 18% below the Iowa typical home. 63% of Davenport households own their home.
| Davenport | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 70% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 50% | 42% | 48% |
| Median rent | $978 a month | $909 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
15% of residents live below the poverty line in Davenport. The top destinations are Bettendorf (9%), Rock Island (5%) and Moline (4%).
| Davenport | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 8.5% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Davenport beats the Iowa average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. Among 140 Iowa towns, just 10 have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Davenport.
| Davenport | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 20% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 38% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 32% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Davenport | IA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 9.1% | 6.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 16.8% | 12% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 13% | 9.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
898 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 104 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 898 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Davenport.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Iowa average. 30% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 31% across Iowa.
| Davenport | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37.5 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 30% | 25% | 29% |
50.4% women, 49.6% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.6 points. Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.2, men 36.8.
| Davenport | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.2% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.8% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.3% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.7% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.4% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.6% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.9% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
7 within 15 miles of the center of Davenport
About 6 of every 100 Davenport residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Iowa.
4 colleges in town.
254 places in Davenport on the National Register of Historic Places.
47 notable people were born in Davenport.
City in Iowa, United States
Davenport (US: DAV-ən-port) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 101,724 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 100,938 in 2024, making it the third-most populous city in Iowa, after Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Together with Bettendorf, Iowa; Rock Island, Illinois; Moline, Illinois; and East Moline, Illinois, Davenport is one of the five Quad Cities in Iowa and Illinois. It is the largest city in the Quad Cities area, which has a metropolitan area population of 384,324 and a Combined statistical area population of 474,019 in the 2020 census. Davenport was foun…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Davenport.
| Town | IA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davenport | #135 | D | B− | D | D− | C+ |
| Bettendorf | #44 | A− | C | B+ | A− | A− |
| Eldridge | #10 | A+ | C+ | A | A− | A |
| Buffalo | — | — | A | A+ | D− | B |
Buffalo has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Compare Davenport with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Davenport grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #135 of 140 in Iowa. It grades C+ for health, D for safety and D− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.7 years of the area's median household income ($72,738 across the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL 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−.
47 notable people were born here, including Lara Flynn Boyle and Seth Rollins.
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