Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by civilian labor force

Des Moines, IA had the highest civilian labor force of 23 cities in 2024, at 117,023. Clinton, IA had the lowest, at 10,807. The median was 25,633. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest117,023Des Moines, IA
Lowest10,807Clinton, IA
Median25,63323 cities

All cities, 2024

Des Moines, IA: 117,023 personsDes Moines, IA117,023Cedar Rapids, IA: 74,240 personsCedar Rapids, IA74,240Davenport, IA: 52,399 personsDavenport, IA52,399Sioux City, IA: 45,515 personsSioux City, IA45,515West Des Moines, IA: 43,963 personsWest Des Moines, IA43,963Ankeny, IA: 43,758 personsAnkeny, IA43,758Iowa City, IA: 43,324 personsIowa City, IA43,324Ames, IA: 37,444 personsAmes, IA37,444Waterloo, IA: 33,146 personsWaterloo, IA33,146Dubuque, IA: 31,363 personsDubuque, IA31,363Council Bluffs, IA: 31,069 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA31,069Urbandale, IA: 25,633 personsUrbandale, IA25,633Cedar Falls, IA: 22,946 personsCedar Falls, IA22,946Marion, IA: 21,982 personsMarion, IA21,982Bettendorf, IA: 20,843 personsBettendorf, IA20,843Waukee, IA: 19,529 personsWaukee, IA19,529Mason City, IA: 14,419 personsMason City, IA14,419Marshalltown, IA: 13,299 personsMarshalltown, IA13,299Johnston, IA: 13,185 personsJohnston, IA13,185Ottumwa, IA: 12,334 personsOttumwa, IA12,334Fort Dodge, IA: 11,440 personsFort Dodge, IA11,440Burlington, IA: 11,155 personsBurlington, IA11,155Clinton, IA: 10,807 personsClinton, IA10,807Des Moines, IA: 117,023 personsDes Moines, IA117,023Cedar Rapids, IA: 74,240 personsCedar Rapids, IA74,240Davenport, IA: 52,399 personsDavenport, IA52,399Sioux City, IA: 45,515 personsSioux City, IA45,515West Des Moines, IA: 43,963 personsWest Des Moines, IA43,963Ankeny, IA: 43,758 personsAnkeny, IA43,758Iowa City, IA: 43,324 personsIowa City, IA43,324Ames, IA: 37,444 personsAmes, IA37,444Waterloo, IA: 33,146 personsWaterloo, IA33,146Dubuque, IA: 31,363 personsDubuque, IA31,363Council Bluffs, IA: 31,069 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA31,069Urbandale, IA: 25,633 personsUrbandale, IA25,633Cedar Falls, IA: 22,946 personsCedar Falls, IA22,946Marion, IA: 21,982 personsMarion, IA21,982Bettendorf, IA: 20,843 personsBettendorf, IA20,843Waukee, IA: 19,529 personsWaukee, IA19,529Mason City, IA: 14,419 personsMason City, IA14,419Marshalltown, IA: 13,299 personsMarshalltown, IA13,299Johnston, IA: 13,185 personsJohnston, IA13,185Ottumwa, IA: 12,334 personsOttumwa, IA12,334Fort Dodge, IA: 11,440 personsFort Dodge, IA11,440Burlington, IA: 11,155 personsBurlington, IA11,155Clinton, IA: 10,807 personsClinton, IA10,807
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2024
persons		Change on 2023
1Des Moines, IA117,023+0.3%
2Cedar Rapids, IA74,240-1.1%
3Davenport, IA52,399+0.1%
4Sioux City, IA45,515-0.5%
5West Des Moines, IA43,963+0.8%
6Ankeny, IA43,758+1.7%
7Iowa City, IA43,324+0.4%
8Ames, IA37,444+0.2%
9Waterloo, IA33,146-0.5%
10Dubuque, IA31,363-0.7%
11Council Bluffs, IA31,069-0.2%
12Urbandale, IA25,633+1.1%
13Cedar Falls, IA22,946-1.2%
14Marion, IA21,982-1%
15Bettendorf, IA20,843+0.5%
16Waukee, IA19,529+7.7%
17Mason City, IA14,419+0.8%
18Marshalltown, IA13,299+1.3%
19Johnston, IA13,185n/a
20Ottumwa, IA12,334+1%
21Fort Dodge, IA11,440-0.4%
22Burlington, IA11,155-0.5%
23Clinton, IA10,807-1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in Iowa by civilian labor force, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Iowa by civilian labor force, 2024. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/iowa-cities?period=2024. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in Iowa by civilian labor force, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/iowa-cities?period=2024.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Iowa by civilian labor force, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/iowa-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_iowa_by_2024,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Iowa by civilian labor force, 2024}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/iowa-cities?period=2024. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Iowa by civilian labor force, 2024
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/iowa-cities?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/iowa-cities?period=2024.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Iowa by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Des Moines, IA, with 117,023 in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Clinton, IA, with 10,807 in 2024.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Iowa: more rankings