These are the 10 Safest Cities in All of Iowa [LIST]

One of the first things many people look into when buying a home is the neighborhood in which a home is located. Is it safe? It is an area of high-crime? What are the demographics? These statistics play a heavy role in deciding where we want to set up camp and build our lives.

A new study from Safewise looked at the top ten safest cities in the state of Iowa. Unfortunately, Dubuque did not make the list, but plenty of scenic and idyllic Iowa towns did. Here's a breakdown of the list as well as some of the findings:

Pella, IA Gets More Love:

If you venture down the Iowa YouTube rabbit-hole, you'll find several people exploring the "Dutch town" of Pella, IA. The town's exotic architecture, distinctive cuisine, and homey nature lend itself to being the apple of the eyes of vloggers. Pella, IA came in at #3 on Safewise's list of Iowa towns. Here are the statistics:

• Population Population: 10,260
• Dollar Median Income: $80,270
• Gun VC Rate: 2023, 2022, 2021 0.9, N/A, 1.0
• Property PC Rate: 2023, 2022, 2021 5.8, N/A, 12.4
• VC=Violent crime, PC=Property crime

What Crimes Concern Iowans the Most?:

Safewise not only looked at crime stats for various Iowa towns, but they also examined the specific types of crime Iowans fear the most:

Most Iowans are concerned about gun violence (51%). Package theft is of the least concern (43%). This is the opposite of the national trend—most Americans worry about package theft (53%) with gun violence being of least concern (47%).

 

Iowans' crime concerns also differ from their crime experiences—Iowans were most likely to have experienced a package theft in the 12 months prior to the survey (30%) and least likely to experience violent crime (10%).

The Top 10 Safest Cities in All of Iowa:

Topping Safewise's list of safest Iowa cities is Sioux Center, IA, located in the northwestern corner of the state. The town is home to just over 8,000 people, and judging by the city's official website, it's a beautiful city to call home. Here are the top 10 safest cities in the state of Iowa, per Safewise:

1. Sioux Center
2. Decorah
3. Pella
4. Waukee
5. Carroll
6. North Liberty
7. Urbandale
8. Johnston
9. Ankeny
10. Denison

Other Statistics Regarding Safety in Iowa:

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In an effort to be totally comprehensive, Safewise also included various bullet-points and factoids regarding the safety and crime rates in Iowa:

• 50 Iowa cities met the criteria for ranking this year, and 5 cities made it to the top 20 for the first time.
• Sioux Center tops the list for the third year in a row.
• Hiawatha rose 23 spots to land in nineteenth place this year. Bettendorf took the largest nose dive, falling 6 positions and landing at 18.
• Only 7 cities—Carroll, North Liberty, Ankeny, Clive, Fairfield, Mount Pleasant, and Hiawatha—saw declines in both violent crime and property crime rates.
• Most of Iowa's safest cities reported 0 murders. Fairfield and Marion reported 1 each, and Ames reported 4.
• Carroll's only violent crimes for the 2023 reporting year consisted of 3 aggravated assaults.
• Sioux Center's only property crimes for the 2023 reporting year consisted of 9 larceny-thefts.
• The most populous city on this year’s top 20 list—Ankeny—reported the second-highest amount of property crimes and the third-highest amount of violent crimes. Ames reported the highest numbers of both.
• Each of Iowa's 20 safest cities reported 10 or fewer robberies.
• Clive also appears on our list of the 100 Safest Cities in America.

To see the complete list of the safest cities in Iowa, visit Safewise's website.