Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by population

Des Moines, IA had the highest population of 41 cities in 2024, at 212,277. Carroll, IA had the lowest, at 10,157. The median was 24,836 and the figure for Iowa was 3.23 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest212,277Des Moines, IA
Lowest10,157Carroll, IA
Median24,83641 cities
Iowa3,230,454History

All cities, 2024

Des Moines, IA: 212,277 personsDes Moines, IA212,277Cedar Rapids, IA: 137,022 personsCedar Rapids, IA137,022Davenport, IA: 100,467 personsDavenport, IA100,467Sioux City, IA: 86,444 personsSioux City, IA86,444Ankeny, IA: 76,455 personsAnkeny, IA76,455Iowa City, IA: 76,169 personsIowa City, IA76,169West Des Moines, IA: 74,081 personsWest Des Moines, IA74,081Ames, IA: 68,381 personsAmes, IA68,381Waterloo, IA: 67,005 personsWaterloo, IA67,005Council Bluffs, IA: 62,484 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA62,484Dubuque, IA: 58,823 personsDubuque, IA58,823Urbandale, IA: 47,926 personsUrbandale, IA47,926Marion, IA: 42,353 personsMarion, IA42,353Cedar Falls, IA: 41,197 personsCedar Falls, IA41,197Bettendorf, IA: 40,132 personsBettendorf, IA40,132Waukee, IA: 31,927 personsWaukee, IA31,927Marshalltown, IA: 27,692 personsMarshalltown, IA27,692Mason City, IA: 26,866 personsMason City, IA26,866Ottumwa, IA: 25,469 personsOttumwa, IA25,469Johnston, IA: 24,938 personsJohnston, IA24,938Fort Dodge, IA: 24,836 personsFort Dodge, IA24,836Clinton, IA: 24,109 personsClinton, IA24,109Coralville, IA: 23,770 personsCoralville, IA23,770Burlington, IA: 23,452 personsBurlington, IA23,452Muscatine, IA: 23,333 personsMuscatine, IA23,333Altoona, IA: 22,505 personsAltoona, IA22,505North Liberty, IA: 21,704 personsNorth Liberty, IA21,704Clive, IA: 19,671 personsClive, IA19,671Grimes, IA: 17,222 personsGrimes, IA17,222Indianola, IA: 16,814 personsIndianola, IA16,814Newton, IA: 15,713 personsNewton, IA15,713Norwalk, IA: 14,332 personsNorwalk, IA14,332Boone, IA: 12,450 personsBoone, IA12,450Storm Lake, IA: 11,548 personsStorm Lake, IA11,548Oskaloosa, IA: 11,502 personsOskaloosa, IA11,502Spencer, IA: 11,445 personsSpencer, IA11,445Pleasant Hill, IA: 11,082 personsPleasant Hill, IA11,082Pella, IA: 10,878 personsPella, IA10,878Le Mars, IA: 10,605 personsLe Mars, IA10,605Waverly, IA: 10,583 personsWaverly, IA10,583Carroll, IA: 10,157 personsCarroll, IA10,157Des Moines, IA: 212,277 personsDes Moines, IA212,277Cedar Rapids, IA: 137,022 personsCedar Rapids, IA137,022Davenport, IA: 100,467 personsDavenport, IA100,467Sioux City, IA: 86,444 personsSioux City, IA86,444Ankeny, IA: 76,455 personsAnkeny, IA76,455Iowa City, IA: 76,169 personsIowa City, IA76,169West Des Moines, IA: 74,081 personsWest Des Moines, IA74,081Ames, IA: 68,381 personsAmes, IA68,381Waterloo, IA: 67,005 personsWaterloo, IA67,005Council Bluffs, IA: 62,484 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA62,484Dubuque, IA: 58,823 personsDubuque, IA58,823Urbandale, IA: 47,926 personsUrbandale, IA47,926Marion, IA: 42,353 personsMarion, IA42,353Cedar Falls, IA: 41,197 personsCedar Falls, IA41,197Bettendorf, IA: 40,132 personsBettendorf, IA40,132Waukee, IA: 31,927 personsWaukee, IA31,927Marshalltown, IA: 27,692 personsMarshalltown, IA27,692Mason City, IA: 26,866 personsMason City, IA26,866Ottumwa, IA: 25,469 personsOttumwa, IA25,469Johnston, IA: 24,938 personsJohnston, IA24,938Fort Dodge, IA: 24,836 personsFort Dodge, IA24,836Clinton, IA: 24,109 personsClinton, IA24,109Coralville, IA: 23,770 personsCoralville, IA23,770Burlington, IA: 23,452 personsBurlington, IA23,452Muscatine, IA: 23,333 personsMuscatine, IA23,333Altoona, IA: 22,505 personsAltoona, IA22,505North Liberty, IA: 21,704 personsNorth Liberty, IA21,704Clive, IA: 19,671 personsClive, IA19,671Grimes, IA: 17,222 personsGrimes, IA17,222Indianola, IA: 16,814 personsIndianola, IA16,814Newton, IA: 15,713 personsNewton, IA15,713Norwalk, IA: 14,332 personsNorwalk, IA14,332Boone, IA: 12,450 personsBoone, IA12,450Storm Lake, IA: 11,548 personsStorm Lake, IA11,548Oskaloosa, IA: 11,502 personsOskaloosa, IA11,502Spencer, IA: 11,445 personsSpencer, IA11,445Pleasant Hill, IA: 11,082 personsPleasant Hill, IA11,082Pella, IA: 10,878 personsPella, IA10,878Le Mars, IA: 10,605 personsLe Mars, IA10,605Waverly, IA: 10,583 personsWaverly, IA10,583Carroll, IA: 10,157 personsCarroll, IA10,157
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

RankCities2024
persons		Change on 2023
1Des Moines, IA212,277+0.8%
2Cedar Rapids, IA137,022+0.6%
3Davenport, IA100,467+0.2%
4Sioux City, IA86,444+0.2%
5Ankeny, IA76,455+1.4%
6Iowa City, IA76,169+0.4%
7West Des Moines, IA74,081+1.7%
8Ames, IA68,381+0.4%
9Waterloo, IA67,005+0.5%
10Council Bluffs, IA62,484-0.1%
11Dubuque, IA58,823-0.1%
12Urbandale, IA47,926+1.8%
13Marion, IA42,353+0.8%
14Cedar Falls, IA41,197+0.6%
15Bettendorf, IA40,132+0.7%
16Waukee, IA31,927+6.5%
17Marshalltown, IA27,692+0.3%
18Mason City, IA26,866-0.2%
19Ottumwa, IA25,469+0.2%
20Johnston, IA24,938+1.6%
21Fort Dodge, IA24,836+0.5%
22Clinton, IA24,109-0.4%
23Coralville, IA23,770+0.5%
24Burlington, IA23,452-0.6%
25Muscatine, IA23,333-0.3%
26Altoona, IA22,505+1.8%
27North Liberty, IA21,704+2.4%
28Clive, IA19,671+2.3%
29Grimes, IA17,222+4.3%
30Indianola, IA16,814+2.6%
31Newton, IA15,713+0.4%
32Norwalk, IA14,332+1%
33Boone, IA12,450+0.5%
34Storm Lake, IA11,548-0%
35Oskaloosa, IA11,502-0.2%
36Spencer, IA11,445-0.1%
37Pleasant Hill, IA11,082-0.2%
38Pella, IA10,878+1.3%
39Le Mars, IA10,605-0%
40Waverly, IA10,583+0.1%
41Carroll, IA10,157-0.2%

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, 2024) [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, 2024. 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=2024. 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, 2024. 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=2024.

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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_iowa_by_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  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=2024. 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, 2024
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=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/iowa-cities?period=2024.
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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Rank Cities in Iowa by population using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Des Moines, IA, with 212,277 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Carroll, IA, with 10,157 in 2024.

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