Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Fort Dodge grades D overall, 132nd of 140 graded towns in Iowa, mostly because of schools and safety. Its public schools trail 97% of Iowa towns on state tests and graduation. Its police reported 232 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 96% of U.S. towns. What it does well: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 86% of U.S. towns. 51% of working residents work locally in Fort Dodge, above both the Iowa town median (31%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Fort Dodge has 13 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Oleson Park Music Pavilion and Corpus Christi Church. Among 115 Iowa towns, just 1 have a higher violent crime rate than Fort Dodge.
Where Fort Dodge beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Vincent House| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Duncombe Elementary School | 1–5 | 438 |
| Early Childhood Center | PK–K | 376 |
| Butler Elementary School | 1–5 | 328 |
Census counts: 672 in 1860, 24,871 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1859 and a map from 1923 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Fort Dodge is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 86% of comparable towns) to D− for schools (better than 3%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fort Dodge, 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 Fort Dodge.
Fort Dodge is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it reports violent crime at 4 times the Iowa rate.
Its public schools are run by the Fort Dodge Community School District. Two of its 12 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Dodge Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 765 | D |
| Fort Dodge High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,020 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 9.3 per 1,000 residents, 4 times the Iowa rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 28 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Iowa rate, most of it theft.
Fort Dodge’s property crime rate is 28 per 1,000 residents. Fort Dodge reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 96% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
11 miles of trail in 27 parks and preserves. Lizard Creek Acquisition, at 83 acres with 2.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. The trail density in Fort Dodge is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Fort Dodge | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.6% | 3.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lizard Creek Acquisition | 2.7 mi | 83 |
| 2. Phinny Park | 1 mi | 24 |
| 3. Oleson Park | 0.2 mi | 69 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 1.9 years of the Fort Dodge area’s $69K median household income, the typical home (about $130K) costs less against local pay than in 95% of Iowa towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living. At about $130K, home values are up 6% in five years, against a rise of 26% across Iowa.
The typical Fort Dodge home is worth about $130,000, up 0.8% in a year, 45% below the Iowa typical home. 64% of households own their home in Fort Dodge.
| Fort Dodge | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $785 a month | $913 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 64% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Fort Dodge has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 9° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
16% of Fort Dodge residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Fort Dodge has lost 964 jobs, to 12,636 in 2023. 4.4% of Fort Dodge workers work from home.
| Fort Dodge | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 4.4% | 8.5% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $61,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 9,098 U.S. towns with household incomes like Fort Dodge’s, it is healthier than 60%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Among 140 Iowa towns, just 2 have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Fort Dodge. Fort Dodge beats the Iowa average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8.
| Fort Dodge | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 20% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 32% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Fort Dodge | IA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 14.9% | 12% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.8% | 6.4% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 8.2% | 6.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 16 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fort Dodge.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Iowa average. 22% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 31% across Iowa.
| Fort Dodge | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 21% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 22% | 25% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.6 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
48.4% women, 51.6% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 62% are men (IA 52%). Median age: women 40.6, men 35.0.
| Fort Dodge | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.5% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.2% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 13.8% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.2% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.2% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.7% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.2% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.6% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.5% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.1% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 5.6% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
1 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Dodge
About 7 of every 100 Fort Dodge residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Iowa.
13 places in Fort Dodge on the National Register of Historic Places.
47 notable people were born in Fort Dodge.
City in Iowa, United States
Fort Dodge is a city in and the county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Central and Northwest Iowa. It is located on U.S. Routes 20 and 169.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fort Dodge grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #132 of 140 in Iowa. It grades C+ for health, D− for safety and D− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 1.9 years of the area's median household income ($68,975 across the Fort Dodge, IA 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 Katie Porter and Corita Kent.
