Des Moines, the state capital · Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School · Photo: Larry Day, Photographer · Public domainHow Iowa stacks up
Iowa is steady across the board, with nothing below a B−. Across its larger towns, 94% of residents live in one of the nation’s shortest-commute towns. Overall it ranks 5th of 51, an A.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
16th of 51B+70/100 Low crime overall. Iowa reports 238 violent crimes per 100,000 people, against 329 nationally. Des Moines and Cedar Rapids weigh on the town measure; 48% of residents live in bottom-quarter places.
Counting property crime too (property + 4 × violent, the weighting our town grades use): 12th lowest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 38 Iowa towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally.
Crime gathers in the larger cities
Its safest larger towns are Norwalk (#164), North Liberty (#317) and Johnston (#601), ranked against every U.S. town of 10,000+. At the other end are Davenport, Sioux City and Waterloo, in the quarter of U.S. towns reporting the most crime per resident.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Iowa | 15% | 48% |
Some towns not counted
Each town’s figure is built from its own department’s FBI reports, so towns with gaps sit out rather than being estimated. Here the towns counted hold 96% of residents of towns of 10,000+. Cedar Falls and Pleasant Hill have too few years reported to count. Grimes reports no crime of its own, usually a sign that county or state police patrol it. Among its neighbors, Wisconsin counts the most (93%) and Nebraska the least (55%).
Schools
19th of 51B64/100 Schools a notch above average. 51% of residents live in bottom-quarter towns, among them Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. Measured on the one test every state gives, 32% of its students reach Proficient (24th highest).
In the class of 2023, 87.5% graduated on time, 20th highest; graduation counts as much as test results in the grade.
Spending: $13,713 per pupil, 14th lowest. Shown for context, not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 41 Iowa towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
17th of 51B+68/100 Somewhat affordable. Town after town lands in the national top quarter: 64% of residents live in one. At $2,897, the typical property-tax bill is the 22nd highest among the states. Taxes and prices disagree: 22nd highest tax bills, but home prices 2nd lowest against income.
Home values run 2.8 times the median household income, 2nd lowest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 41 Iowa towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
19th of 51B64/100 A little healthier than average. North Liberty leads its towns at #544 nationally; 16% of residents live in top-quarter towns. 18% of adults describe their health as fair or poor, against 19% nationally.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 41 Iowa towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
28th of 51B−46/100 High ownership outside its larger towns. Home ownership stands at 72%, the 11th highest rate of the 50 states and D.C. Even its best town, Norwalk, ranks #942 of 5,235 nationally. The statewide figure flatters its larger towns; smaller places and the countryside lift it.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 41 Iowa towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
16th of 51B+70/100 Fairly sheltered from disasters. Expect inland flooding above all; it makes up 68% of FEMA’s estimate. Iowa ranks 18th lowest for expected hazard damage: $119 a year per $100,000 of buildings. 21% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 7% in a bottom-quarter one; Indianola ranks highest.
Federal major-disaster declarations since 2015: 14, 19th most.
Behind the figure: inland flooding 68%, tornado 19%, strong wind 5% of FEMA’s expected losses.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 41 Iowa towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
6th of 51A90/100 Short commutes with few exceptions. Getting to work takes 19.8 minutes on average (8th shortest). Town after town lands in the national top quarter: 94% of residents live in one. Few places anywhere beat Storm Lake, #3 of 5,235 towns for commute times.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 41 Iowa towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
25th of 51B−52/100 Growing at about the national pace. Builders added 4.7 homes per 1,000 residents in 2025, after the population grew 4.7% from 2010 to 2020 (23rd slowest). Grimes leads its towns at #83 nationally; 28% of residents live in top-quarter towns.
New homes permitted in 2025: 4.7 per 1,000 residents (23rd most).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 41 Iowa towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Iowa compares to its neighbors
It sits mid-pack among Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska on every subject.
| Iowa | Minnesota | Wisconsin | Illinois | Missouri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A 925th of 51 | A+ 963rd of 51 | A 944th of 51 | B 6220th of 51 | B 6021st of 51 |
| Safety | B+ 7017th official · 15% in top towns | A− 7615th official · 15% in top towns | B+ 7219th official · 15% in top towns | A− 7821st official · 27% in top towns | C+ 4441st official · 9% in top towns |
| Schools | B 6424th official · 14% in top towns | B+ 6611th official · 15% in top towns | A+ 968th official · 31% in top towns | A− 8416th official · 29% in top towns | B 6238th official · 13% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B+ 6830th official · 64% in top towns | B− 4634th official · 24% in top towns | B− 4836th official · 32% in top towns | C 2846th official · 14% in top towns | A 8616th official · 54% in top towns |
| Health | B 6415th official · 16% in top towns | A− 826th official · 33% in top towns | B 5615th official · 11% in top towns | B+ 6825th official · 30% in top towns | C− 1838th official · 7% in top towns |
| Housing | B− 4611th official · 1% in top towns | A 927th official · 21% in top towns | B− 4822nd official · 7% in top towns | B+ 7430th official · 23% in top towns | B+ 7021st official · 13% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | B+ 7018th official · 21% in top towns | B 6416th official · 13% in top towns | A 945th official · 74% in top towns | B 5819th official · 12% in top towns | C+ 3832nd official · 1% in top towns |
| Commute | A 908th official · 94% in top towns | B+ 7414th official · 44% in top towns | A− 8011th official · 53% in top towns | D 1443rd official · 13% in top towns | B 6217th official · 32% in top towns |
| Growth | B− 5229th official · 28% in top towns | B 6020th official · 28% in top towns | C+ 3635th official · 18% in top towns | D− 249th official · 2% in top towns | C 2840th official · 15% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work