Photo: Iowahwyman · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, West Des Moines records more property crime than 73% of U.S. towns
Of the 5 towns on its borders with figures, 3 record less crime per resident. By contrast, the crimes the grade counts fell 30% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Overall, West Des Moines grades C+ for safety (#69 of 105 graded towns in Iowa): more crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. Out of every 1,000 residents, 1.6 violent crimes and 18.1 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 3.3 and 17.9 in the rest of Iowa.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of IA” is every other Iowa city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in West Des Moines
3 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Iowa towns on West Des Moines’ borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Norwalk (A), Waukee (B+), Clive (B−), Windsor Heights (D), Des Moines (D). Neighbors ↓
A job center
West Des Moines has 67,051 jobs based in town for 74,224 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind West Des Moines’ grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds West Des Moines’ grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | West Des Moines property | Rest of Iowa property | West Des Moines violent | Rest of Iowa violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.2 | 19.2 | 2.5 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 22.0 | 19.9 | 1.7 | 3.7 |
| 2024 | 17.1 | 17.9 | 1.6 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 15.2 | 15.9 | 1.5 | 3.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Iowa.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | West Des Moines | Rest of Iowa | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Des Moines’ police reported 354 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of Iowa and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in West Des Moines per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
1,249 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
109 violent and 1,140 property, as reported to the FBI by West Des Moines’ police.
13 people died in crashes on West Des Moines’s roads in 2019–2023
West Des Moines had 13 fatal crashes in five years, in which 13 people died; 2 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 6 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 3.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Iowa towns of 25,000–100,000 people (3.8, 16 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
West Des Moines and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Des Moines | C+ | 1.6 | 18.1 |
| Des Moines | D | 6.8 | 31.0 |
| Waukee | B+ | 1.5 | 6.8 |
| Clive | B− | 1.8 | 11.4 |
| Windsor Heights | D | 1.4 | 41.6 |
| Norwalk | A | 0.7 | 2.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Iowa towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Des Moines | C+ | 1.6 | 18.1 |
| Ankeny | B− | 1.5 | 10.8 |
| Ames | B− | 1.4 | 13.8 |
| Iowa City | C | 3.1 | 17.2 |
| Waterloo | D | 5.1 | 23.6 |
| Sioux City | D | 5.4 | 32.2 |
The five graded Iowa towns closest to West Des Moines’ population (74,224), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of West Des Moines. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against West Des Moines’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (74,901 in 2025); our figure for West Des Moines is 74,224 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in West Des Moines
Is West Des Moines, IA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Des Moines reports more crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #69 of 105 in Iowa. Its police reported 1.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of Iowa and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in West Des Moines?
1.6 violent and 18.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Iowa reports 3.3 and 17.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in West Des Moines in 2025?
West Des Moines’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is West Des Moines safer than Des Moines?
Des Moines reports more crime per resident than West Des Moines: Des Moines grades D for safety and West Des Moines C+. Des Moines’s police reported 6.8 violent and 31.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices West Des Moines?
West Des Moines’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Des Moines”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in West Des Moines.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.