Cities in Iowa by households

Des Moines, IA had the highest households of 41 cities in 2023, at 90,085. Waverly, IA had the lowest, at 3,759. The median was 10,213 and the figure for Iowa was 1.3 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest90,085Des Moines, IA

Lowest3,759Waverly, IA

Median10,21341 cities

Iowa1,303,763History

All cities, 2023

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	Des Moines, IA	90,085	+1.3%
2	Cedar Rapids, IA	58,870	+1%
3	Davenport, IA	43,479	+1.9%
4	Sioux City, IA	32,843	+1.2%
5	West Des Moines, IA	31,825	+1.7%
6	Iowa City, IA	30,780	+0.8%
7	Waterloo, IA	28,947	0%
8	Ankeny, IA	27,493	+3.6%
9	Council Bluffs, IA	25,894	+1.6%
10	Dubuque, IA	25,818	+2.5%
11	Ames, IA	25,445	+1.2%
12	Urbandale, IA	17,040	-0.7%
13	Marion, IA	16,744	-0%
14	Bettendorf, IA	15,863	+1.6%
15	Cedar Falls, IA	15,579	+0.9%
16	Mason City, IA	12,678	-0.4%
17	Burlington, IA	11,264	+0.5%
18	Clinton, IA	10,677	+1.7%
19	Waukee, IA	10,652	+7.3%
20	Fort Dodge, IA	10,556	+1.5%
21	Ottumwa, IA	10,213	+0.1%
22	Marshalltown, IA	10,127	+1.4%
23	Coralville, IA	9,777	+2%
24	Muscatine, IA	9,576	+1.7%
25	Johnston, IA	9,552	+3.2%
26	Altoona, IA	7,865	+4.5%
27	North Liberty, IA	7,809	+0.9%
28	Clive, IA	7,101	+2.1%
29	Newton, IA	6,698	+2.6%
30	Grimes, IA	6,133	+6.9%
31	Indianola, IA	6,008	+1.1%
32	Norwalk, IA	5,288	+4.8%
33	Spencer, IA	5,145	-0.3%
34	Boone, IA	5,137	0%
35	Oskaloosa, IA	4,656	+1.5%
36	Carroll, IA	4,535	-0.2%
37	Le Mars, IA	4,356	+1.4%
38	Pleasant Hill, IA	4,035	+4.5%
39	Pella, IA	4,009	+3.1%
39	Storm Lake, IA	4,009	+0.3%
41	Waverly, IA	3,759	-0.8%

Other periods

2024
2023
2022
2021

About this ranking

Number of households, which equals the number of occupied housing units. United States: American Community Survey five-year estimate, where the period shown is the last year of the five-year span.

People living in group quarters, such as college dormitories, nursing homes and prisons, are not in households.

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 B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.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 B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more) (Cities in Iowa by households, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.dat

MLA 9

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more), Cities in Iowa by households, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 29 Jan. 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.dat. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/households/iowa-cities?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Cities in Iowa by households, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.dat. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/households/iowa-cities?period=2023.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more), Cities in Iowa by households, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.dat, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/households/iowa-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more): Cities in Iowa by households, 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.dat},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/households/iowa-cities?period=2023. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary\_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more): Cities in Iowa by households, 2023
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/01/29
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.dat
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/households/iowa-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/households/iowa-cities?period=2023.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25003.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which city has the highest households?

Des Moines, IA, with 90,085 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest households?

Waverly, IA, with 3,759 in 2023.

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 B25003: occupied housing units (households), US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Retrieved 2026-10-12.