Cities in Iowa by unemployed people
Des Moines, IA had the highest unemployed people of 21 cities in 2018, at 3,537. Clinton, IA had the lowest, at 410. The median was 628. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
All cities, 2018
Full ranking
| Rank | Cities | 2018 | Change on 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Moines, IA | 3,537 | -15% |
| 2 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 2,216 | -14.3% |
| 3 | Davenport, IA | 1,755 | -13.8% |
| 4 | Sioux City, IA | 1,216 | -17.2% |
| 5 | Waterloo, IA | 1,173 | -23% |
| 6 | Council Bluffs, IA | 831 | -11.9% |
| 6 | Dubuque, IA | 831 | -16.4% |
| 8 | Iowa City, IA | 822 | -21.5% |
| 9 | West Des Moines, IA | 786 | -12.2% |
| 10 | Ankeny, IA | 731 | -5.4% |
| 11 | Marshalltown, IA | 628 | +0.3% |
| 12 | Ames, IA | 593 | -16.9% |
| 13 | Marion, IA | 533 | -10.4% |
| 14 | Urbandale, IA | 510 | -11.9% |
| 15 | Ottumwa, IA | 473 | -19% |
| 16 | Bettendorf, IA | 448 | -18.2% |
| 17 | Fort Dodge, IA | 442 | -9.8% |
| 18 | Cedar Falls, IA | 432 | -21.3% |
| 19 | Burlington, IA | 429 | -21.6% |
| 20 | Mason City, IA | 419 | -11.6% |
| 21 | Clinton, IA | 410 | -21.2% |
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. 2 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2018 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
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, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19
MLA 9
Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2018. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2018. 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, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2018.
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, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_iowa_by_2018,
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, 2018}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2018. 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.CurrentU15-19. 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, 2018
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.CurrentU15-19
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2018
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2018.
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.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Cities in Iowa by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"unemployed_persons","level":"municipality","within":"Iowa","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=unemployed_persons&level=municipality&within=Iowa&limit=10Questions
Which city has the highest unemployed people?
Des Moines, IA, with 3,537 in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Which city has the lowest unemployed people?
Clinton, IA, with 410 in 2018.
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. 2 cities have no value for 2018 and are not ranked.