Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2025

Des Moines, IA had the highest unemployed people of 23 cities in 2025, at 5,039. Johnston, IA had the lowest, at 420. The median was 996. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest5,039Des Moines, IA
Lowest420Johnston, IA
Median99623 cities

All cities, 2025

Des Moines, IA: 5,039 personsDes Moines, IA5,039Cedar Rapids, IA: 3,012 personsCedar Rapids, IA3,012Davenport, IA: 2,525 personsDavenport, IA2,525Sioux City, IA: 1,692 personsSioux City, IA1,692Waterloo, IA: 1,661 personsWaterloo, IA1,661Ankeny, IA: 1,375 personsAnkeny, IA1,375West Des Moines, IA: 1,360 personsWest Des Moines, IA1,360Council Bluffs, IA: 1,305 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA1,305Iowa City, IA: 1,192 personsIowa City, IA1,192Dubuque, IA: 1,118 personsDubuque, IA1,118Ames, IA: 1,078 personsAmes, IA1,078Marshalltown, IA: 996 personsMarshalltown, IA996Urbandale, IA: 855 personsUrbandale, IA855Marion, IA: 767 personsMarion, IA767Bettendorf, IA: 754 personsBettendorf, IA754Cedar Falls, IA: 716 personsCedar Falls, IA716Waukee, IA: 570 personsWaukee, IA570Clinton, IA: 547 personsClinton, IA547Ottumwa, IA: 543 personsOttumwa, IA543Burlington, IA: 538 personsBurlington, IA538Mason City, IA: 508 personsMason City, IA508Fort Dodge, IA: 444 personsFort Dodge, IA444Johnston, IA: 420 personsJohnston, IA420Des Moines, IA: 5,039 personsDes Moines, IA5,039Cedar Rapids, IA: 3,012 personsCedar Rapids, IA3,012Davenport, IA: 2,525 personsDavenport, IA2,525Sioux City, IA: 1,692 personsSioux City, IA1,692Waterloo, IA: 1,661 personsWaterloo, IA1,661Ankeny, IA: 1,375 personsAnkeny, IA1,375West Des Moines, IA: 1,360 personsWest Des Moines, IA1,360Council Bluffs, IA: 1,305 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA1,305Iowa City, IA: 1,192 personsIowa City, IA1,192Dubuque, IA: 1,118 personsDubuque, IA1,118Ames, IA: 1,078 personsAmes, IA1,078Marshalltown, IA: 996 personsMarshalltown, IA996Urbandale, IA: 855 personsUrbandale, IA855Marion, IA: 767 personsMarion, IA767Bettendorf, IA: 754 personsBettendorf, IA754Cedar Falls, IA: 716 personsCedar Falls, IA716Waukee, IA: 570 personsWaukee, IA570Clinton, IA: 547 personsClinton, IA547Ottumwa, IA: 543 personsOttumwa, IA543Burlington, IA: 538 personsBurlington, IA538Mason City, IA: 508 personsMason City, IA508Fort Dodge, IA: 444 personsFort Dodge, IA444Johnston, IA: 420 personsJohnston, IA420
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2025
persons		Change on 2024
1Des Moines, IA5,039+16.4%
2Cedar Rapids, IA3,012+11.8%
3Davenport, IA2,525+14.7%
4Sioux City, IA1,692+14.7%
5Waterloo, IA1,661+8.8%
6Ankeny, IA1,375+24.4%
7West Des Moines, IA1,360+22.5%
8Council Bluffs, IA1,305+23.6%
9Iowa City, IA1,192+17.4%
10Dubuque, IA1,118+6.2%
11Ames, IA1,078+19.4%
12Marshalltown, IA996+11.8%
13Urbandale, IA855+18.9%
14Marion, IA767+10.5%
15Bettendorf, IA754+10.9%
16Cedar Falls, IA716+17.4%
17Waukee, IA570+22.8%
18Clinton, IA547+19.7%
19Ottumwa, IA543+17%
20Burlington, IA538+11.2%
21Mason City, IA508+16.5%
22Fort Dodge, IA444+14.1%
23Johnston, IA420+20%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

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. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. 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. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_iowa_by_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Iowa by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Des Moines, IA, with 5,039 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Johnston, IA, with 420 in 2025.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Iowa: more rankings