Cities in Iowa by housing units

Des Moines, IA had the highest housing units of 41 cities in 2023, at 97,457. Waverly, IA had the lowest, at 4,048. The median was 11,023 and the figure for Iowa was 1.43 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest97,457Des Moines, IA

Lowest4,048Waverly, IA

Median11,02341 cities

Iowa1,427,175History

All cities, 2023

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, 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	97,457	+1.3%
2	Cedar Rapids, IA	63,669	+0.8%
3	Davenport, IA	47,170	+0.7%
4	Sioux City, IA	34,901	+1.4%
5	Iowa City, IA	33,855	+1.2%
6	West Des Moines, IA	33,605	+1%
7	Waterloo, IA	32,170	+0.6%
8	Ankeny, IA	28,619	+3.3%
9	Ames, IA	27,706	+1.3%
10	Dubuque, IA	27,629	+1.3%
11	Council Bluffs, IA	27,576	+0.9%
12	Urbandale, IA	17,907	-0.3%
13	Marion, IA	17,680	+1.2%
14	Bettendorf, IA	16,709	+1%
15	Cedar Falls, IA	16,612	+0.2%
16	Mason City, IA	14,117	-0%
17	Burlington, IA	12,506	+0.8%
18	Clinton, IA	12,360	+0.1%
19	Ottumwa, IA	11,525	+1.4%
20	Fort Dodge, IA	11,492	+1.7%
21	Waukee, IA	11,023	+6.8%
22	Marshalltown, IA	10,893	-0.3%
23	Muscatine, IA	10,490	+1.8%
24	Coralville, IA	10,294	+3.1%
25	Johnston, IA	9,868	+3%
26	North Liberty, IA	8,450	+1.6%
27	Altoona, IA	8,187	+3.7%
28	Newton, IA	7,472	+1.9%
29	Clive, IA	7,455	+1.7%
30	Indianola, IA	6,460	+1.3%
31	Grimes, IA	6,209	+7.6%
32	Boone, IA	5,751	+1.1%
33	Spencer, IA	5,640	+0.1%
34	Norwalk, IA	5,541	+6.1%
35	Oskaloosa, IA	5,139	+1.2%
36	Carroll, IA	4,806	-1.2%
37	Le Mars, IA	4,521	-0.7%
38	Pleasant Hill, IA	4,320	+7.7%
39	Storm Lake, IA	4,291	+0.5%
40	Pella, IA	4,226	+3%
41	Waverly, IA	4,048	-0.8%

Other periods

2024
2023
2022
2021

About this ranking

All housing units, occupied and vacant: houses, apartments, mobile homes and rooms intended as separate living quarters. United States: American Community Survey five-year estimate, where the period shown is the last year of the five-year span.

A survey estimate averaged over five years, not a count on one date.

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 B25001: total housing units, 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-b25001.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 B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more) (Cities in Iowa by housing units, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25001.dat

MLA 9

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more), Cities in Iowa by housing units, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 29 Jan. 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25001.dat. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Cities in Iowa by housing units, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25001.dat. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2023.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more), Cities in Iowa by housing units, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25001.dat, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/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 B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more): Cities in Iowa by housing units, 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b25001.dat},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2023. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, 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-b25001.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more): Cities in Iowa by housing units, 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-b25001.dat
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/iowa-cities?period=2023.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, 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-b25001.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which city has the highest housing units?

Des Moines, IA, with 97,457 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest housing units?

Waverly, IA, with 4,048 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 B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Retrieved 2026-10-12.