Cities in Iowa by Gini index

Iowa City, IA had the highest Gini index of 41 cities in 2021, at 50.9. Grimes, IA had the lowest, at 34.9. The median was 42.8 and the figure for Iowa was 44.1. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest50.9Iowa City, IA

Lowest34.9Grimes, IA

Median42.841 cities

Iowa44.1History

All cities, 2021

index. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2021 index
1	Iowa City, IA	50.9
2	Coralville, IA	50.2
3	Ames, IA	49.4
4	Burlington, IA	48
5	Cedar Falls, IA	47.8
6	Oskaloosa, IA	47.2
7	Fort Dodge, IA	47
8	Waterloo, IA	46.1
9	Davenport, IA	45.5
10	Bettendorf, IA	45.5
11	West Des Moines, IA	45.4
12	Carroll, IA	44.9
13	Dubuque, IA	44.7
14	Ottumwa, IA	44.4
15	Clinton, IA	44.2
16	Spencer, IA	44.2
17	Cedar Rapids, IA	43.4
18	Storm Lake, IA	43.3
19	Johnston, IA	43.3
20	Des Moines, IA	43.2
21	Pella, IA	42.8
22	Sioux City, IA	42.7
23	Muscatine, IA	42.5
24	Boone, IA	42.4
25	Council Bluffs, IA	42
26	Waukee, IA	41.6
27	Newton, IA	41.5
28	Mason City, IA	41.3
29	Indianola, IA	41.1
30	North Liberty, IA	41
31	Marion, IA	41
32	Marshalltown, IA	40.9
33	Urbandale, IA	40.9
34	Clive, IA	40.8
35	Waverly, IA	40.5
36	Le Mars, IA	40.4
37	Norwalk, IA	40.3
38	Ankeny, IA	37.4
39	Pleasant Hill, IA	36.4
40	Altoona, IA	35.9
41	Grimes, IA	34.9

Other periods

2024
2023
2022
2021

About this ranking

Income inequality on a 0 to 100 scale, where 0 is perfect equality.

Covers Spain, the EU and its countries, and the United States. For other countries use gini_index_world_bank, which is measured on a different basis. US values measure household money income before taxes and are not directly comparable with the EU-SILC measure based on equivalised disposable income.

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. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat. 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. Census Bureau. (2026). American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more) (Cities in Iowa by Gini index, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat

MLA 9

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more), Cities in Iowa by Gini index, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 29 Jan. 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/gini/iowa-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Cities in Iowa by Gini index, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/gini/iowa-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more), Cities in Iowa by Gini index, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/gini/iowa-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more): Cities in Iowa by Gini index, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/gini/iowa-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary\_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more): Cities in Iowa by Gini index, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/01/29
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/gini/iowa-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/gini/iowa-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b19083.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which city has the highest Gini index?

Iowa City, IA, with 50.9 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest Gini index?

Grimes, IA, with 34.9 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B19083: Gini index of household income inequality (coefficient multiplied by 100), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Retrieved 2026-10-12.