Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by population

Des Moines, IA had the highest population of 41 cities in 2020, at 213,682. Pleasant Hill, IA had the lowest, at 10,150. The median was 24,185 and the figure for Iowa was 3.19 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest213,682Des Moines, IA
Lowest10,150Pleasant Hill, IA
Median24,18541 cities
Iowa3,191,081History

All cities, 2020

Des Moines, IA: 213,682 personsDes Moines, IA213,682Cedar Rapids, IA: 137,853 personsCedar Rapids, IA137,853Davenport, IA: 101,651 personsDavenport, IA101,651Sioux City, IA: 85,893 personsSioux City, IA85,893Iowa City, IA: 74,936 personsIowa City, IA74,936West Des Moines, IA: 68,962 personsWest Des Moines, IA68,962Ankeny, IA: 68,659 personsAnkeny, IA68,659Waterloo, IA: 67,259 personsWaterloo, IA67,259Ames, IA: 66,497 personsAmes, IA66,497Council Bluffs, IA: 62,792 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA62,792Dubuque, IA: 59,641 personsDubuque, IA59,641Urbandale, IA: 45,588 personsUrbandale, IA45,588Marion, IA: 41,571 personsMarion, IA41,571Cedar Falls, IA: 40,700 personsCedar Falls, IA40,700Bettendorf, IA: 39,120 personsBettendorf, IA39,120Marshalltown, IA: 27,580 personsMarshalltown, IA27,580Mason City, IA: 27,280 personsMason City, IA27,280Ottumwa, IA: 25,462 personsOttumwa, IA25,462Fort Dodge, IA: 24,891 personsFort Dodge, IA24,891Clinton, IA: 24,444 personsClinton, IA24,444Waukee, IA: 24,185 personsWaukee, IA24,185Johnston, IA: 23,984 personsJohnston, IA23,984Burlington, IA: 23,965 personsBurlington, IA23,965Muscatine, IA: 23,783 personsMuscatine, IA23,783Coralville, IA: 22,321 personsCoralville, IA22,321North Liberty, IA: 20,501 personsNorth Liberty, IA20,501Altoona, IA: 19,742 personsAltoona, IA19,742Clive, IA: 18,689 personsClive, IA18,689Indianola, IA: 15,882 personsIndianola, IA15,882Newton, IA: 15,748 personsNewton, IA15,748Grimes, IA: 15,719 personsGrimes, IA15,719Norwalk, IA: 12,861 personsNorwalk, IA12,861Boone, IA: 12,447 personsBoone, IA12,447Oskaloosa, IA: 11,544 personsOskaloosa, IA11,544Spencer, IA: 11,302 personsSpencer, IA11,302Storm Lake, IA: 11,262 personsStorm Lake, IA11,262Le Mars, IA: 10,603 personsLe Mars, IA10,603Pella, IA: 10,474 personsPella, IA10,474Waverly, IA: 10,415 personsWaverly, IA10,415Carroll, IA: 10,311 personsCarroll, IA10,311Pleasant Hill, IA: 10,150 personsPleasant Hill, IA10,150Des Moines, IA: 213,682 personsDes Moines, IA213,682Cedar Rapids, IA: 137,853 personsCedar Rapids, IA137,853Davenport, IA: 101,651 personsDavenport, IA101,651Sioux City, IA: 85,893 personsSioux City, IA85,893Iowa City, IA: 74,936 personsIowa City, IA74,936West Des Moines, IA: 68,962 personsWest Des Moines, IA68,962Ankeny, IA: 68,659 personsAnkeny, IA68,659Waterloo, IA: 67,259 personsWaterloo, IA67,259Ames, IA: 66,497 personsAmes, IA66,497Council Bluffs, IA: 62,792 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA62,792Dubuque, IA: 59,641 personsDubuque, IA59,641Urbandale, IA: 45,588 personsUrbandale, IA45,588Marion, IA: 41,571 personsMarion, IA41,571Cedar Falls, IA: 40,700 personsCedar Falls, IA40,700Bettendorf, IA: 39,120 personsBettendorf, IA39,120Marshalltown, IA: 27,580 personsMarshalltown, IA27,580Mason City, IA: 27,280 personsMason City, IA27,280Ottumwa, IA: 25,462 personsOttumwa, IA25,462Fort Dodge, IA: 24,891 personsFort Dodge, IA24,891Clinton, IA: 24,444 personsClinton, IA24,444Waukee, IA: 24,185 personsWaukee, IA24,185Johnston, IA: 23,984 personsJohnston, IA23,984Burlington, IA: 23,965 personsBurlington, IA23,965Muscatine, IA: 23,783 personsMuscatine, IA23,783Coralville, IA: 22,321 personsCoralville, IA22,321North Liberty, IA: 20,501 personsNorth Liberty, IA20,501Altoona, IA: 19,742 personsAltoona, IA19,742Clive, IA: 18,689 personsClive, IA18,689Indianola, IA: 15,882 personsIndianola, IA15,882Newton, IA: 15,748 personsNewton, IA15,748Grimes, IA: 15,719 personsGrimes, IA15,719Norwalk, IA: 12,861 personsNorwalk, IA12,861Boone, IA: 12,447 personsBoone, IA12,447Oskaloosa, IA: 11,544 personsOskaloosa, IA11,544Spencer, IA: 11,302 personsSpencer, IA11,302Storm Lake, IA: 11,262 personsStorm Lake, IA11,262Le Mars, IA: 10,603 personsLe Mars, IA10,603Pella, IA: 10,474 personsPella, IA10,474Waverly, IA: 10,415 personsWaverly, IA10,415Carroll, IA: 10,311 personsCarroll, IA10,311Pleasant Hill, IA: 10,150 personsPleasant Hill, IA10,150
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
persons
1Des Moines, IA213,682
2Cedar Rapids, IA137,853
3Davenport, IA101,651
4Sioux City, IA85,893
5Iowa City, IA74,936
6West Des Moines, IA68,962
7Ankeny, IA68,659
8Waterloo, IA67,259
9Ames, IA66,497
10Council Bluffs, IA62,792
11Dubuque, IA59,641
12Urbandale, IA45,588
13Marion, IA41,571
14Cedar Falls, IA40,700
15Bettendorf, IA39,120
16Marshalltown, IA27,580
17Mason City, IA27,280
18Ottumwa, IA25,462
19Fort Dodge, IA24,891
20Clinton, IA24,444
21Waukee, IA24,185
22Johnston, IA23,984
23Burlington, IA23,965
24Muscatine, IA23,783
25Coralville, IA22,321
26North Liberty, IA20,501
27Altoona, IA19,742
28Clive, IA18,689
29Indianola, IA15,882
30Newton, IA15,748
31Grimes, IA15,719
32Norwalk, IA12,861
33Boone, IA12,447
34Oskaloosa, IA11,544
35Spencer, IA11,302
36Storm Lake, IA11,262
37Le Mars, IA10,603
38Pella, IA10,474
39Waverly, IA10,415
40Carroll, IA10,311
41Pleasant Hill, IA10,150

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population.

More on how it is measured
  • Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón).
  • Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January.
  • Iceland and its municipalities: Statistics Iceland, 1 January.
  • United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July.
  • United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June.
  • Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
  • UN World Population Prospects estimates for 1 July cover the years before 1960 and the areas the World Bank does not publish, such as Taiwan.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

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. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. 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). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in Iowa by population, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Iowa by population, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in Iowa by population, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Iowa by population, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Iowa by population, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2020. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Iowa by population, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Des Moines, IA, with 213,682 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Pleasant Hill, IA, with 10,150 in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings

Cities in Iowa: more rankings