Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by population

Des Moines, IA had the highest population of 41 cities in 2022, at 210,530. Carroll, IA had the lowest, at 10,201. The median was 24,353 and the figure for Iowa was 3.2 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest210,530Des Moines, IA
Lowest10,201Carroll, IA
Median24,35341 cities
Iowa3,201,890History

All cities, 2022

Des Moines, IA: 210,530 personsDes Moines, IA210,530Cedar Rapids, IA: 136,806 personsCedar Rapids, IA136,806Davenport, IA: 100,412 personsDavenport, IA100,412Sioux City, IA: 85,599 personsSioux City, IA85,599Iowa City, IA: 75,810 personsIowa City, IA75,810Ankeny, IA: 73,183 personsAnkeny, IA73,183West Des Moines, IA: 71,027 personsWest Des Moines, IA71,027Ames, IA: 67,256 personsAmes, IA67,256Waterloo, IA: 66,492 personsWaterloo, IA66,492Council Bluffs, IA: 62,395 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA62,395Dubuque, IA: 58,895 personsDubuque, IA58,895Urbandale, IA: 46,770 personsUrbandale, IA46,770Marion, IA: 41,605 personsMarion, IA41,605Cedar Falls, IA: 40,521 personsCedar Falls, IA40,521Bettendorf, IA: 39,549 personsBettendorf, IA39,549Waukee, IA: 27,863 personsWaukee, IA27,863Marshalltown, IA: 27,423 personsMarshalltown, IA27,423Mason City, IA: 26,906 personsMason City, IA26,906Ottumwa, IA: 25,218 personsOttumwa, IA25,218Fort Dodge, IA: 24,714 personsFort Dodge, IA24,714Clinton, IA: 24,353 personsClinton, IA24,353Johnston, IA: 24,178 personsJohnston, IA24,178Burlington, IA: 23,593 personsBurlington, IA23,593Muscatine, IA: 23,518 personsMuscatine, IA23,518Coralville, IA: 23,164 personsCoralville, IA23,164Altoona, IA: 21,828 personsAltoona, IA21,828North Liberty, IA: 21,125 personsNorth Liberty, IA21,125Clive, IA: 19,046 personsClive, IA19,046Grimes, IA: 16,376 personsGrimes, IA16,376Indianola, IA: 16,220 personsIndianola, IA16,220Newton, IA: 15,722 personsNewton, IA15,722Norwalk, IA: 13,738 personsNorwalk, IA13,738Boone, IA: 12,361 personsBoone, IA12,361Oskaloosa, IA: 11,481 personsOskaloosa, IA11,481Spencer, IA: 11,440 personsSpencer, IA11,440Storm Lake, IA: 11,430 personsStorm Lake, IA11,430Pleasant Hill, IA: 10,873 personsPleasant Hill, IA10,873Pella, IA: 10,746 personsPella, IA10,746Le Mars, IA: 10,612 personsLe Mars, IA10,612Waverly, IA: 10,519 personsWaverly, IA10,519Carroll, IA: 10,201 personsCarroll, IA10,201Des Moines, IA: 210,530 personsDes Moines, IA210,530Cedar Rapids, IA: 136,806 personsCedar Rapids, IA136,806Davenport, IA: 100,412 personsDavenport, IA100,412Sioux City, IA: 85,599 personsSioux City, IA85,599Iowa City, IA: 75,810 personsIowa City, IA75,810Ankeny, IA: 73,183 personsAnkeny, IA73,183West Des Moines, IA: 71,027 personsWest Des Moines, IA71,027Ames, IA: 67,256 personsAmes, IA67,256Waterloo, IA: 66,492 personsWaterloo, IA66,492Council Bluffs, IA: 62,395 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA62,395Dubuque, IA: 58,895 personsDubuque, IA58,895Urbandale, IA: 46,770 personsUrbandale, IA46,770Marion, IA: 41,605 personsMarion, IA41,605Cedar Falls, IA: 40,521 personsCedar Falls, IA40,521Bettendorf, IA: 39,549 personsBettendorf, IA39,549Waukee, IA: 27,863 personsWaukee, IA27,863Marshalltown, IA: 27,423 personsMarshalltown, IA27,423Mason City, IA: 26,906 personsMason City, IA26,906Ottumwa, IA: 25,218 personsOttumwa, IA25,218Fort Dodge, IA: 24,714 personsFort Dodge, IA24,714Clinton, IA: 24,353 personsClinton, IA24,353Johnston, IA: 24,178 personsJohnston, IA24,178Burlington, IA: 23,593 personsBurlington, IA23,593Muscatine, IA: 23,518 personsMuscatine, IA23,518Coralville, IA: 23,164 personsCoralville, IA23,164Altoona, IA: 21,828 personsAltoona, IA21,828North Liberty, IA: 21,125 personsNorth Liberty, IA21,125Clive, IA: 19,046 personsClive, IA19,046Grimes, IA: 16,376 personsGrimes, IA16,376Indianola, IA: 16,220 personsIndianola, IA16,220Newton, IA: 15,722 personsNewton, IA15,722Norwalk, IA: 13,738 personsNorwalk, IA13,738Boone, IA: 12,361 personsBoone, IA12,361Oskaloosa, IA: 11,481 personsOskaloosa, IA11,481Spencer, IA: 11,440 personsSpencer, IA11,440Storm Lake, IA: 11,430 personsStorm Lake, IA11,430Pleasant Hill, IA: 10,873 personsPleasant Hill, IA10,873Pella, IA: 10,746 personsPella, IA10,746Le Mars, IA: 10,612 personsLe Mars, IA10,612Waverly, IA: 10,519 personsWaverly, IA10,519Carroll, IA: 10,201 personsCarroll, IA10,201
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

RankCities2022
persons		Change on 2021
1Des Moines, IA210,530-0.9%
2Cedar Rapids, IA136,806-0.2%
3Davenport, IA100,412-0.7%
4Sioux City, IA85,599-0.4%
5Iowa City, IA75,810+0.7%
6Ankeny, IA73,183+3.2%
7West Des Moines, IA71,027+1.3%
8Ames, IA67,256+0.4%
9Waterloo, IA66,492-0.6%
10Council Bluffs, IA62,395-0.3%
11Dubuque, IA58,895-0.6%
12Urbandale, IA46,770+1.5%
13Marion, IA41,605-0.2%
14Cedar Falls, IA40,521-0.3%
15Bettendorf, IA39,549+0.6%
16Waukee, IA27,863+8.3%
17Marshalltown, IA27,423-0.1%
18Mason City, IA26,906-1%
19Ottumwa, IA25,218-0.7%
20Fort Dodge, IA24,714-1.4%
21Clinton, IA24,353-0.5%
22Johnston, IA24,178+0.4%
23Burlington, IA23,593-0.7%
24Muscatine, IA23,518-0%
25Coralville, IA23,164+1.1%
26Altoona, IA21,828+3.9%
27North Liberty, IA21,125+1.4%
28Clive, IA19,046+0.4%
29Grimes, IA16,376+1.7%
30Indianola, IA16,220+1.1%
31Newton, IA15,722+0.2%
32Norwalk, IA13,738+3%
33Boone, IA12,361-0.9%
34Oskaloosa, IA11,4810%
35Spencer, IA11,440+0.4%
36Storm Lake, IA11,430+0.8%
37Pleasant Hill, IA10,873+1.7%
38Pella, IA10,746+0.9%
39Le Mars, IA10,612-0.1%
40Waverly, IA10,519+0.6%
41Carroll, IA10,201-0.9%

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, 2022) [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, 2022. 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=2022. 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, 2022. 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=2022.

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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  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=2022. 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, 2022
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=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2022.
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 210,530 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Carroll, IA, with 10,201 in 2022.

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