Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Iowa

Cities in Iowa by unemployed people

Des Moines, IA had the highest unemployed people of 22 cities in 2021, at 5,640. Waukee, IA had the lowest, at 406. The median was 941. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest5,640Des Moines, IA
Lowest406Waukee, IA
Median94122 cities

All cities, 2021

Des Moines, IA: 5,640 personsDes Moines, IA5,640Cedar Rapids, IA: 3,645 personsCedar Rapids, IA3,645Davenport, IA: 2,878 personsDavenport, IA2,878Sioux City, IA: 1,860 personsSioux City, IA1,860Waterloo, IA: 1,694 personsWaterloo, IA1,694Iowa City, IA: 1,436 personsIowa City, IA1,436Dubuque, IA: 1,397 personsDubuque, IA1,397Council Bluffs, IA: 1,364 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA1,364West Des Moines, IA: 1,337 personsWest Des Moines, IA1,337Ankeny, IA: 1,200 personsAnkeny, IA1,200Ames, IA: 1,054 personsAmes, IA1,054Marion, IA: 827 personsMarion, IA827Marshalltown, IA: 795 personsMarshalltown, IA795Bettendorf, IA: 771 personsBettendorf, IA771Urbandale, IA: 748 personsUrbandale, IA748Burlington, IA: 735 personsBurlington, IA735Cedar Falls, IA: 635 personsCedar Falls, IA635Ottumwa, IA: 613 personsOttumwa, IA613Clinton, IA: 611 personsClinton, IA611Mason City, IA: 594 personsMason City, IA594Fort Dodge, IA: 545 personsFort Dodge, IA545Waukee, IA: 406 personsWaukee, IA406Des Moines, IA: 5,640 personsDes Moines, IA5,640Cedar Rapids, IA: 3,645 personsCedar Rapids, IA3,645Davenport, IA: 2,878 personsDavenport, IA2,878Sioux City, IA: 1,860 personsSioux City, IA1,860Waterloo, IA: 1,694 personsWaterloo, IA1,694Iowa City, IA: 1,436 personsIowa City, IA1,436Dubuque, IA: 1,397 personsDubuque, IA1,397Council Bluffs, IA: 1,364 personsCouncil Bluffs, IA1,364West Des Moines, IA: 1,337 personsWest Des Moines, IA1,337Ankeny, IA: 1,200 personsAnkeny, IA1,200Ames, IA: 1,054 personsAmes, IA1,054Marion, IA: 827 personsMarion, IA827Marshalltown, IA: 795 personsMarshalltown, IA795Bettendorf, IA: 771 personsBettendorf, IA771Urbandale, IA: 748 personsUrbandale, IA748Burlington, IA: 735 personsBurlington, IA735Cedar Falls, IA: 635 personsCedar Falls, IA635Ottumwa, IA: 613 personsOttumwa, IA613Clinton, IA: 611 personsClinton, IA611Mason City, IA: 594 personsMason City, IA594Fort Dodge, IA: 545 personsFort Dodge, IA545Waukee, IA: 406 personsWaukee, IA406
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Des Moines, IA5,640-30.6%
2Cedar Rapids, IA3,645-28.2%
3Davenport, IA2,878-26.7%
4Sioux City, IA1,860-24.4%
5Waterloo, IA1,694-32.1%
6Iowa City, IA1,436-30.9%
7Dubuque, IA1,397-33.3%
8Council Bluffs, IA1,364-27.3%
9West Des Moines, IA1,337-30.8%
10Ankeny, IA1,200-26.6%
11Ames, IA1,054-23.1%
12Marion, IA827-24.5%
13Marshalltown, IA795-13.2%
14Bettendorf, IA771-20.3%
15Urbandale, IA748-32.5%
16Burlington, IA735-23%
17Cedar Falls, IA635-30.8%
18Ottumwa, IA613-22.7%
19Clinton, IA611-27.3%
20Mason City, IA594-27.2%
21Fort Dodge, IA545-20.6%
22Waukee, IA406n/a

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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2021 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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_iowa_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/iowa-cities?period=2021.
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 5,640 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Waukee, IA, with 406 in 2021.

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. 1 cities have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Iowa: more rankings