Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by population

Des Moines, IA had the highest population of 41 cities in 2021, at 212,434. Carroll, IA had the lowest, at 10,295. The median was 24,465 and the figure for Iowa was 3.2 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest212,434Des Moines, IA
Lowest10,295Carroll, IA
Median24,46541 cities
Iowa3,199,037History

All cities, 2021

Des Moines, IA: 212,434 personsDes Moines, IA212,434Cedar Rapids, IA: 137,117 personsCedar Rapids, IA137,117Davenport, IA: 101,071 personsDavenport, IA101,071Sioux City, IA: 85,906 personsSioux City, IA85,906Iowa City, IA: 75,273 personsIowa City, IA75,273Ankeny, IA: 70,931 personsAnkeny, IA70,931West Des Moines, IA: 70,122 personsWest Des Moines, IA70,122Ames, IA: 67,021 personsAmes, IA67,021Waterloo, IA: 66,897 personsWaterloo, IA66,897Council Bluffs, IA: 62,594 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA62,594Dubuque, IA: 59,275 personsDubuque, IA59,275Urbandale, IA: 46,100 personsUrbandale, IA46,100Marion, IA: 41,668 personsMarion, IA41,668Cedar Falls, IA: 40,648 personsCedar Falls, IA40,648Bettendorf, IA: 39,331 personsBettendorf, IA39,331Marshalltown, IA: 27,459 personsMarshalltown, IA27,459Mason City, IA: 27,184 personsMason City, IA27,184Waukee, IA: 25,732 personsWaukee, IA25,732Ottumwa, IA: 25,407 personsOttumwa, IA25,407Fort Dodge, IA: 25,061 personsFort Dodge, IA25,061Clinton, IA: 24,465 personsClinton, IA24,465Johnston, IA: 24,086 personsJohnston, IA24,086Burlington, IA: 23,768 personsBurlington, IA23,768Muscatine, IA: 23,527 personsMuscatine, IA23,527Coralville, IA: 22,923 personsCoralville, IA22,923Altoona, IA: 21,012 personsAltoona, IA21,012North Liberty, IA: 20,829 personsNorth Liberty, IA20,829Clive, IA: 18,978 personsClive, IA18,978Grimes, IA: 16,102 personsGrimes, IA16,102Indianola, IA: 16,039 personsIndianola, IA16,039Newton, IA: 15,693 personsNewton, IA15,693Norwalk, IA: 13,338 personsNorwalk, IA13,338Boone, IA: 12,475 personsBoone, IA12,475Oskaloosa, IA: 11,477 personsOskaloosa, IA11,477Spencer, IA: 11,400 personsSpencer, IA11,400Storm Lake, IA: 11,343 personsStorm Lake, IA11,343Pleasant Hill, IA: 10,688 personsPleasant Hill, IA10,688Pella, IA: 10,648 personsPella, IA10,648Le Mars, IA: 10,626 personsLe Mars, IA10,626Waverly, IA: 10,452 personsWaverly, IA10,452Carroll, IA: 10,295 personsCarroll, IA10,295Des Moines, IA: 212,434 personsDes Moines, IA212,434Cedar Rapids, IA: 137,117 personsCedar Rapids, IA137,117Davenport, IA: 101,071 personsDavenport, IA101,071Sioux City, IA: 85,906 personsSioux City, IA85,906Iowa City, IA: 75,273 personsIowa City, IA75,273Ankeny, IA: 70,931 personsAnkeny, IA70,931West Des Moines, IA: 70,122 personsWest Des Moines, IA70,122Ames, IA: 67,021 personsAmes, IA67,021Waterloo, IA: 66,897 personsWaterloo, IA66,897Council Bluffs, IA: 62,594 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA62,594Dubuque, IA: 59,275 personsDubuque, IA59,275Urbandale, IA: 46,100 personsUrbandale, IA46,100Marion, IA: 41,668 personsMarion, IA41,668Cedar Falls, IA: 40,648 personsCedar Falls, IA40,648Bettendorf, IA: 39,331 personsBettendorf, IA39,331Marshalltown, IA: 27,459 personsMarshalltown, IA27,459Mason City, IA: 27,184 personsMason City, IA27,184Waukee, IA: 25,732 personsWaukee, IA25,732Ottumwa, IA: 25,407 personsOttumwa, IA25,407Fort Dodge, IA: 25,061 personsFort Dodge, IA25,061Clinton, IA: 24,465 personsClinton, IA24,465Johnston, IA: 24,086 personsJohnston, IA24,086Burlington, IA: 23,768 personsBurlington, IA23,768Muscatine, IA: 23,527 personsMuscatine, IA23,527Coralville, IA: 22,923 personsCoralville, IA22,923Altoona, IA: 21,012 personsAltoona, IA21,012North Liberty, IA: 20,829 personsNorth Liberty, IA20,829Clive, IA: 18,978 personsClive, IA18,978Grimes, IA: 16,102 personsGrimes, IA16,102Indianola, IA: 16,039 personsIndianola, IA16,039Newton, IA: 15,693 personsNewton, IA15,693Norwalk, IA: 13,338 personsNorwalk, IA13,338Boone, IA: 12,475 personsBoone, IA12,475Oskaloosa, IA: 11,477 personsOskaloosa, IA11,477Spencer, IA: 11,400 personsSpencer, IA11,400Storm Lake, IA: 11,343 personsStorm Lake, IA11,343Pleasant Hill, IA: 10,688 personsPleasant Hill, IA10,688Pella, IA: 10,648 personsPella, IA10,648Le Mars, IA: 10,626 personsLe Mars, IA10,626Waverly, IA: 10,452 personsWaverly, IA10,452Carroll, IA: 10,295 personsCarroll, IA10,295
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

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Des Moines, IA212,434-0.6%
2Cedar Rapids, IA137,117-0.5%
3Davenport, IA101,071-0.6%
4Sioux City, IA85,9060%
5Iowa City, IA75,273+0.4%
6Ankeny, IA70,931+3.3%
7West Des Moines, IA70,122+1.7%
8Ames, IA67,021+0.8%
9Waterloo, IA66,897-0.5%
10Council Bluffs, IA62,594-0.3%
11Dubuque, IA59,275-0.6%
12Urbandale, IA46,100+1.1%
13Marion, IA41,668+0.2%
14Cedar Falls, IA40,648-0.1%
15Bettendorf, IA39,331+0.5%
16Marshalltown, IA27,459-0.4%
17Mason City, IA27,184-0.4%
18Waukee, IA25,732+6.4%
19Ottumwa, IA25,407-0.2%
20Fort Dodge, IA25,061+0.7%
21Clinton, IA24,465+0.1%
22Johnston, IA24,086+0.4%
23Burlington, IA23,768-0.8%
24Muscatine, IA23,527-1.1%
25Coralville, IA22,923+2.7%
26Altoona, IA21,012+6.4%
27North Liberty, IA20,829+1.6%
28Clive, IA18,978+1.5%
29Grimes, IA16,102+2.4%
30Indianola, IA16,039+1%
31Newton, IA15,693-0.3%
32Norwalk, IA13,338+3.7%
33Boone, IA12,475+0.2%
34Oskaloosa, IA11,477-0.6%
35Spencer, IA11,400+0.9%
36Storm Lake, IA11,343+0.7%
37Pleasant Hill, IA10,688+5.3%
38Pella, IA10,648+1.7%
39Le Mars, IA10,626+0.2%
40Waverly, IA10,452+0.4%
41Carroll, IA10,295-0.2%

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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2021.
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 212,434 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Carroll, IA, with 10,295 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, 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