Safest Places to Live in Iowa of March 2024

ElitePersonalFinance
Last Update: March 11, 2023 Living

Iowa is a state situated in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota. However, the territory of Iowa itself is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west.

The presence of three great rivers and the fact that there are many plains in Iowa (or rather, Iowa itself is a big plain) create perfect corn cultivation conditions. That is why Iowa is the corn capital of the United States. For instance, it produces three times more corn than Mexico, which says a lot about the importance of this state’s agriculture for the entire United States. However, Iowa’s economy depends on diverse fields, such as advanced manufacturing, financial services, processing, information technology, biotechnology, and green energy production.

The capital and the largest city of Iowa is Des Moines, with around 215,000 residents. Iowa is the 30th most populous state in the US, with over 3.1 million residents.

Ranking Criteria

ElitePersonalFinance extracted the latest data from the FBI crime statistics in the United States. We took violent crime as the main criteria. To get our score, we used this formula:

Crime Score = ( Total Number of Violent Crimes / Population ) * 1,000

This way, safer cities got the lowest score, and those more vulnerable to crimes got higher scores.

The cities that did not report crimes to the FBI and those under 5,000 residents were not included in the list.

10 Safest Places in Iowa of March 2024

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Polk City5 01310,20
2Eldridge6 97220,29
3Norwalk11 87140,34
4Sioux Center7 68830,39
5Clive17 30570,40
6Waukee24 255150,62
7Urbandale44 541280,63
8Spencer11 00870,64
9Carroll9 77590,92
10Pella10 334100,97

Crime Score in All Cities in Iowa of March 2024

If your city didn’t make our list, you could see our full list of Iowa cities.

We can’t compare crime rates in small and large cities. That’s why ElitePersonalFinance made a detailed analysis and narrowed the results according to population segments:

  • Under 3,000 Residents
  • 3,000 – 10,000 Residents
  • 10,000 – 30,000 Residents
  • Over 30,000 Residents

(Other sites don’t include places with under 3,000 residents, but we included them.)

These are the results that we got:

Under 3,000 Residents

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Prairie City1 73610,58
2Clarion2 72920,73
3Sac City2 05620,97
4Lansing94111,06
5Bloomfield2 70041,48
6Postville2 06541,94
7Audubon1 88363,19
8Hawarden2 47983,23
9Onawa2 762113,98
10Lake City1 64984,85
11Missouri Valley2 609134,98
12West Burlington2 882165,55
13Tama2 730217,69

3,000 – 10,000 Residents

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Humboldt4 57800,00
2Polk City5 01310,20
3Eldridge6 97220,29
4Sioux Center7 68830,39
5Mount Vernon4 44920,45
6Jefferson4 12330,73
7Carroll9 77590,92
8Hampton4 20740,95
9Charles City7 33481,09
10Osage3 53841,13
11Dyersville4 24551,18
12Decorah7 52991,20
13Williamsburg3 15941,27
14Mount Pleasant8 749121,37
15Shenandoah4 85971,44
16Harlan4 79671,46
17Monticello3 89861,54
18DeWitt5 15381,55
19Estherville5 60991,60
20Carlisle4 33471,62
21Forest City4 03671,73
22Sergeant Bluff4 99391,80
23Vinton5 074101,97
24Manchester4 958102,02
25Story City3 36272,08
26Adel5 136112,14
27Emmetsburg3 69182,17
28Iowa Falls5 006112,20
29Denison8 415192,26
30Centerville5 459132,38
31Maquoketa5 972152,51
32Windsor Heights4 896132,66
33Perry7 421202,70
34Waukon3 654102,74
35Oelwein5 886183,06
36Creston7 784263,34
37Atlantic6 514223,38
38Independence6 086223,61
39Albia3 725143,76
40Hiawatha7 441283,76
41Evansdale4 758183,78
42Algona5 413213,88
43Clear Lake7 555314,10
44Nevada6 744284,15
45Webster City7 684324,16
46Grinnell9 333394,18
47Clarinda5 352244,48
48Osceola5 224244,59
49Glenwood5 321264,89
50Spirit Lake5 097305,89
51Red Oak5 287336,24
52Washington7 315486,56

10,000 – 30,000 Residents

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Norwalk11 87140,34
2Clive17 30570,40
3Waukee24 255150,62
4Spencer11 00870,64
5Pella10 334100,97
6Johnston22 708291,28
7Muscatine23 823471,97
8Le Mars10 018242,40
9Boone12 448362,89
10Clinton24 982773,08
11Coralville22 035693,13
12North Liberty20 086703,49
13Marshalltown27 0021053,89
14Storm Lake10 430413,93
15Fort Dodge23 9731014,21
16Waverly10 187444,32
17Oskaloosa11 415544,73
18Ottumwa24 4881345,47
19Mason City26 9761766,52
20Fort Madison10 392696,64
21Indianola16 2351157,08

Over 30,000 Residents

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Urbandale44 541280,63
2Bettendorf36 972461,24
3Marion40 612681,67
4Dubuque57 9731101,90
5Ames68 2371351,98
6Iowa City77 3901672,16
7Cedar Rapids134 0073452,57
8Sioux City82 3393664,45
9Waterloo67 7233064,52
10Davenport102 3926095,95
11Des Moines218 3841 5557,12
12Council Bluffs62 4274937,90

How safe do you feel?

Is your city safe enough? Are you worried because of the crime rate in your town? Do you have any thoughts on safety levels in the country?

If you want to share anything, feel free to leave a comment. That way, you can help us understand your perspective better.

Thank you!

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