Crime Rate in Iowa (2025)
The FBI-based Crime Index for 11 cities in Iowa, plus the statewide average. Scores run 0–100 (higher = safer) and are built from FBI Crime Data Explorer reports for 2025.
Crime Index
Crime trend in Iowa
Reported crime by offense
Statewide rates per 100,000 residents vs the US average.
Each bar is scaled to the US average for that offense — the dashed line marks 1×. Bars past it run above the national norm; hover a row for detail.
Violent crime
- Iowa
- 1.6 /100k · 53 total
- US average
- 4.1 /100k
- Iowa
- 35.5 /100k · 1,149 total
- US average
- 35.2 /100k
- Iowa
- 15.4 /100k · 499 total
- US average
- 47.9 /100k
- Iowa
- 178 /100k · 5,765 total
- US average
- 228 /100k
Property crime
- Iowa
- 168 /100k · 5,442 total
- US average
- 187 /100k
- Iowa
- 877 /100k · 28,405 total
- US average
- 1,099 /100k
- Iowa
- 116 /100k · 3,758 total
- US average
- 192 /100k
- Iowa
- 6.5 /100k · 209 total
- US average
- 9.4 /100k
How Iowa compares
Iowa against the US average for 2025.
| Metric | Iowa | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Crime Index (higher = safer) | 79B | 73C |
| Violent crime /100k | 231 | 315 |
| Property crime /100k | 1,168 | 1,487 |
| Homicide /100k | 1.6 | 4.1 |
| Total reported /100k | 1,398 | 1,802 |
Grade shown per index band (88–100 = A … 0–29 = F). Rates are reported offenses per 100,000 residents.
Reported crime rate since 2021
Reported crime rate since 2021
All 11 cities in Iowa
Ranked safest to most dangerous by Crime Index.
- 1AmesB1,368per 100k1.4homicide
- 2AnkenyB1,180per 100k0.0homicide
- 3West Des MoinesB1,673per 100k0.0homicide
- 4IowaB1,860per 100k2.6homicide
- 5Cedar RapidsC2,397per 100k2.9homicide
- 6DubuqueC1,930per 100k0.0homicide
- 7Council BluffsD2,756per 100k3.2homicide
- 8WaterlooD3,039per 100k7.4homicide
- 9SiouxD3,304per 100k2.3homicide
- 10Des MoinesD3,472per 100k1.4homicide
- 11DavenportE3,831per 100k7.0homicide
Protecting yourself in Iowa
Worried about the numbers above? Compare local providers, estimate costs, and explore the right kind of coverage.
Security guides for Iowa
Iowa Security Guard & Company License: Requirements & How to Verify (2026)
Hiring security in Iowa? Here's who regulates it, what a company and its guards must be licensed to hold, how armed guards are permitted, and how to verify a license yourself in minutes.
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How Much Does a Security Guard Cost? (2026 US Pricing Guide)
Unarmed guards typically run $20–$35 an hour and armed guards $35–$75 — but the number on your quote is built from local wages, insurance, and coverage hours, and it varies by 50% across states. Here's how security pricing actually works in 2026, state by state, and how to avoid overpaying.
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How to Hire a Security Guard Company: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
Hiring security is easy to get wrong — the cheapest bid is often the riskiest. This step-by-step guide walks you through vetting a licensed company the right way, from license checks and state-by-state training standards to the questions that separate pros from pretenders.
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How to Verify a Security Company's License (State-by-State, 2026)
There is no federal security license in the US — every state runs its own registry, and a legitimate company must be in it. Here's exactly how to check, with a state-by-state table of licensing agencies, credentials, insurance minimums, and official lookups.
Read guideNo area has zero risk
A high Crime Index score means lower reported crime relative to other US cities — it is not a guarantee of safety. Reported crime is not the same as actual crime. Research on the gap between crime that occurs and crime that gets reported to police — often called the "dark figure" of crime — estimates that roughly 40% of violent crime and about a third of property crime go unreported each year. Every index built on official statistics, including this one, necessarily undercounts real crime. That gap is exactly why homicide — the offense with the smallest dark figure — anchors the calculation instead of a more commonly reported but less reliable category like theft.
Scores on this page reflect FBI-reported data for 2025. See the full methodology →