Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by unemployed people

Des Moines, IA had the highest unemployed people of 21 cities in 2020, at 8,130. Fort Dodge, IA had the lowest, at 686. The median was 1,370. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest8,130Des Moines, IA
Lowest686Fort Dodge, IA
Median1,37021 cities

All cities, 2020

Des Moines, IA: 8,130 personsDes Moines, IA8,130Cedar Rapids, IA: 5,074 personsCedar Rapids, IA5,074Davenport, IA: 3,925 personsDavenport, IA3,925Waterloo, IA: 2,495 personsWaterloo, IA2,495Sioux City, IA: 2,461 personsSioux City, IA2,461Dubuque, IA: 2,096 personsDubuque, IA2,096Iowa City, IA: 2,078 personsIowa City, IA2,078West Des Moines, IA: 1,933 personsWest Des Moines, IA1,933Council Bluffs, IA: 1,877 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA1,877Ankeny, IA: 1,635 personsAnkeny, IA1,635Ames, IA: 1,370 personsAmes, IA1,370Urbandale, IA: 1,108 personsUrbandale, IA1,108Marion, IA: 1,095 personsMarion, IA1,095Bettendorf, IA: 967 personsBettendorf, IA967Burlington, IA: 954 personsBurlington, IA954Cedar Falls, IA: 917 personsCedar Falls, IA917Marshalltown, IA: 916 personsMarshalltown, IA916Clinton, IA: 841 personsClinton, IA841Mason City, IA: 816 personsMason City, IA816Ottumwa, IA: 793 personsOttumwa, IA793Fort Dodge, IA: 686 personsFort Dodge, IA686Des Moines, IA: 8,130 personsDes Moines, IA8,130Cedar Rapids, IA: 5,074 personsCedar Rapids, IA5,074Davenport, IA: 3,925 personsDavenport, IA3,925Waterloo, IA: 2,495 personsWaterloo, IA2,495Sioux City, IA: 2,461 personsSioux City, IA2,461Dubuque, IA: 2,096 personsDubuque, IA2,096Iowa City, IA: 2,078 personsIowa City, IA2,078West Des Moines, IA: 1,933 personsWest Des Moines, IA1,933Council Bluffs, IA: 1,877 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA1,877Ankeny, IA: 1,635 personsAnkeny, IA1,635Ames, IA: 1,370 personsAmes, IA1,370Urbandale, IA: 1,108 personsUrbandale, IA1,108Marion, IA: 1,095 personsMarion, IA1,095Bettendorf, IA: 967 personsBettendorf, IA967Burlington, IA: 954 personsBurlington, IA954Cedar Falls, IA: 917 personsCedar Falls, IA917Marshalltown, IA: 916 personsMarshalltown, IA916Clinton, IA: 841 personsClinton, IA841Mason City, IA: 816 personsMason City, IA816Ottumwa, IA: 793 personsOttumwa, IA793Fort Dodge, IA: 686 personsFort Dodge, IA686
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
persons		Change on 2019
1Des Moines, IA8,130+112.2%
2Cedar Rapids, IA5,074+123.8%
3Davenport, IA3,925+97.8%
4Waterloo, IA2,495+84.3%
5Sioux City, IA2,461+94.9%
6Dubuque, IA2,096+140.9%
7Iowa City, IA2,078+152.2%
8West Des Moines, IA1,933+121.2%
9Council Bluffs, IA1,877+119.8%
10Ankeny, IA1,635+108.8%
11Ames, IA1,370+99.1%
12Urbandale, IA1,108+100.4%
13Marion, IA1,095+100.5%
14Bettendorf, IA967+102.3%
15Burlington, IA954+85.6%
16Cedar Falls, IA917+101.1%
17Marshalltown, IA916+52.4%
18Clinton, IA841+80.9%
19Mason City, IA816+88.9%
20Ottumwa, IA793+68%
21Fort Dodge, IA686+63.7%

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 2020 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Iowa by unemployed people, 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2020. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2020.

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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_iowa_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2020. 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2020
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.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2020.
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.CurrentU20-24. 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 8,130 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Fort Dodge, IA, with 686 in 2020.

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 2020 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Iowa: more rankings