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IA ยท 2024-25 school year

Public schools in Iowa

Iowa has 1,318 open public schools run by 347 districts and other education agencies, enrolling 497,102 students. Schools average 14.4 students per teacher, compared with 15.3 nationally.

State totals

Districts
347
Schools
1,318
Students
497,102
Teachers (FTE)
34,290
Students per teacher
14.4
US: 15.3
Charter schools
7
Total spending
$8.03 billion
2020 finance data
Spending per pupil
$15,206
2020 finance data. US: $16,826

In the 2020 finance data, districts in Iowa spent $15,206 per pupil, which is below the US figure of $16,826. Dollars are nominal and not adjusted for regional costs or inflation.

Download all 1,318 Iowa schools (CSV)

School districts in Iowa

All 347 districts and agencies, largest first. Filter by name or city, or sort any column.
Des Moines Independent Comm School DistrictDes Moines5930,04814.5$16,187
Cedar Rapids Comm School DistrictCedar Rapids3115,22414.4$16,842
Iowa City Comm School DistrictIowa City2815,01313.8$17,884
Sioux City Comm School DistrictSioux City2114,47515.0$12,658
Waukee Comm School DistrictWaukee1913,91716.0$19,395
Davenport Comm School DistrictDavenport2713,17113.4$13,963
Ankeny Comm School DistrictAnkeny1812,74615.5$14,342
Waterloo Comm School DistrictWaterloo1810,63513.4$15,293
Dubuque Comm School DistrictDubuque1910,26213.1$14,052
West Des Moines Comm School DistrictWest Des Moines149,11014.5$15,606
Council Bluffs Comm School DistrictCouncil Bluffs158,34714.8$17,055
Southeast Polk Comm School DistrictAltoona117,50115.1$13,648
Linn-Mar Comm School DistrictMarion127,43014.9$15,476
Johnston Comm School DistrictJohnston87,37315.5$12,896
Cedar Falls Comm School DistrictCedar Falls105,87514.1$13,233
College Comm School DistrictCedar Rapids105,83215.1$15,256
Pleasant Valley Comm School DistrictBettendorf85,82416.0$12,691
Marshalltown Comm School DistrictMarshalltown105,20014.2$14,202
Ottumwa Comm School DistrictOttumwa125,02415.2$13,753
Ames Comm School DistrictAmes84,72814.0$25,974
Bettendorf Comm School DistrictBettendorf74,40415.2$12,135
Muscatine Comm School DistrictMuscatine94,35813.3$12,790
Urbandale Comm School DistrictUrbandale64,20814.0$17,267
Dallas Center-Grimes Comm School DistrictGrimes73,76015.2$17,964
Western Dubuque Comm School DistrictFarley83,75014.0$12,280
Indianola Comm School DistrictIndianola63,59915.1$12,838
Norwalk Comm School DistrictNorwalk53,58415.4$12,401
Fort Dodge Comm School DistrictFort Dodge73,50815.8$15,764
Mason City Comm School DistrictMason City93,46413.9$17,424
North Scott Comm School DistrictEldridge73,42016.1$11,799
Clinton Comm School DistrictClinton63,39013.5$15,437
Clear Creek Amana Comm School DistrictOxford93,15614.1$16,032
Lewis Central Comm School DistrictCouncil Bluffs43,14316.5$16,417
Burlington Comm School DistrictBurlington83,14012.9$16,246
Storm Lake Comm School DistrictStorm Lake63,00316.1$17,004
Bondurant-Farrar Comm School DistrictBondurant52,82414.9$14,800
Newton Comm School DistrictNewton62,69314.6$13,873
Pella Comm School DistrictPella62,46214.6$12,721
North Polk Comm School DistrictAlleman52,33616.0$15,704
Waverly-Shell Rock Comm School DistrictWaverly72,32313.6$12,332
Carlisle Comm School DistrictCarlisle42,29015.4$11,916
Adel DeSoto Minburn Comm School DistrictAdel52,27813.9$17,730
Denison Comm School DistrictDenison42,27415.0$12,179
Le Mars Comm School DistrictLe Mars62,23915.7$11,630
Spencer Comm School DistrictSpencer52,19415.9$16,160
Marion Independent School DistrictMarion52,16312.1$16,544
Oskaloosa Comm School DistrictOskaloosa42,07913.3$17,214
Clayton Ridge Comm School DistrictGuttenberg42,06645.9$9,598
Glenwood Comm School DistrictGlenwood42,00115.6$12,772
Boone Comm School DistrictBoone41,97813.5$15,617
Showing 1 to 50 of 347

Iowa district rankings

Ratio and spending lists include only districts with 1,000 or more students, so very small districts do not dominate. These are factual sorts, not quality ratings.

Largest districts

  1. 1.Des Moines Independent Comm School District30,048
  2. 2.Cedar Rapids Comm School District15,224
  3. 3.Iowa City Comm School District15,013
  4. 4.Sioux City Comm School District14,475
  5. 5.Waukee Comm School District13,917
  6. 6.Davenport Comm School District13,171
  7. 7.Ankeny Comm School District12,746
  8. 8.Waterloo Comm School District10,635
  9. 9.Dubuque Comm School District10,262
  10. 10.West Des Moines Comm School District9,110

Lowest student-teacher ratio

  1. 1.Forest City Comm School District12.0
  2. 2.Eagle Grove Comm School District12.0
  3. 3.Marion Independent School District12.1
  4. 4.Clarke Comm School District12.1
  5. 5.Mid-Prairie Comm School District12.2
  6. 6.Estherville Lincoln Central Comm School District12.3
  7. 7.Washington Comm School District12.5
  8. 8.Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District12.6
  9. 9.Mount Pleasant Comm School District12.8
  10. 10.Woodward-Granger Comm School District12.8

Highest student-teacher ratio

  1. 1.CAM Comm School District51.3
  2. 2.Clayton Ridge Comm School District45.9
  3. 3.Central Lee Comm School District17.7
  4. 4.Van Meter Comm School District17.6
  5. 5.Lewis Central Comm School District16.5
  6. 6.Algona Comm School District16.1
  7. 7.Storm Lake Comm School District16.1
  8. 8.North Scott Comm School District16.1
  9. 9.Sergeant Bluff-Luton Comm School District16.0
  10. 10.North Polk Comm School District16.0

Highest spending per pupil (2020)

  1. 1.Ames Comm School District$25,974
  2. 2.Sioux Center Comm School District$24,523
  3. 3.Greene County Comm School District$23,654
  4. 4.Saydel Comm School District$21,842
  5. 5.Waukee Comm School District$19,395
  6. 6.Clear Lake Comm School District$18,779
  7. 7.Dallas Center-Grimes Comm School District$17,964
  8. 8.Iowa City Comm School District$17,884
  9. 9.Central Lee Comm School District$17,837
  10. 10.Adel DeSoto Minburn Comm School District$17,730

Lowest spending per pupil (2020)

  1. 1.CAM Comm School District$9,023
  2. 2.Clayton Ridge Comm School District$9,598
  3. 3.Van Meter Comm School District$10,355
  4. 4.Jesup Comm School District$11,161
  5. 5.Cardinal Comm School District$11,382
  6. 6.Center Point-Urbana Comm School District$11,480
  7. 7.Le Mars Comm School District$11,630
  8. 8.North Scott Comm School District$11,799
  9. 9.Solon Comm School District$11,834
  10. 10.Carlisle Comm School District$11,916

Most charter schools

  1. 1.Storm Lake Comm School District1
  2. 2.West Central Comm School District1
  3. 3.Choice Charter Schools1
  4. 4.Hamburg Comm School District1
  5. 5.Charter Organization: Concept Schools1
  6. 6.Charter Organization: Empowering Youths of Iowa1
  7. 7.Charter Organization: Oakmont Education1

Schools by level

344 high schools, 245 middle schools and 669 elementary schools. The largest of each are listed below; use search or a district page for the rest.

High schools 344

  1. Lincoln High School Des Moines, 2,364 students
  2. Linn-Mar High School Marion, 2,229 students
  3. Valley High School West Des Moines, 2,178 students
  4. Roosevelt High School Des Moines, 2,051 students
  5. East High School Des Moines, 1,952 students
  6. Johnston Senior High School Johnston, 1,820 students
  7. Prairie High School Cedar Rapids, 1,766 students
  8. Pleasant Valley High School Bettendorf, 1,731 students
  9. Southeast Polk High School Pleasant Hill, 1,722 students
  10. West High School Waterloo, 1,696 students
  11. Iowa City High School Iowa City, 1,666 students
  12. John F Kennedy High School Cedar Rapids, 1,648 students
  13. Marshalltown High School Marshalltown, 1,629 students
  14. Northwest High School Waukee, 1,574 students
  15. North High School Sioux City, 1,529 students

Middle schools 245

  1. Southeast Middle School Iowa City, 1,269 students
  2. North Middle School Sioux City, 1,136 students
  3. Summit Middle School Johnston, 1,118 students
  4. Northwest Middle School Coralville, 1,113 students
  5. Southeast Polk Middle School Altoona, 1,112 students
  6. South Middle School Waukee, 1,092 students
  7. Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School Dubuque, 1,081 students
  8. East Middle School Sioux City, 1,076 students
  9. Ames Middle School Ames, 1,033 students
  10. Prairie Ridge Middle School Ankeny, 1,004 students
  11. Bettendorf Middle School Bettendorf, 952 students
  12. Pleasant Valley Junior High School LeClaire, 940 students
  13. North Central Middle School North Liberty, 925 students
  14. Gerald W Kirn Middle School Council Bluffs, 913 students
  15. Urbandale Middle School Urbandale, 892 students

Elementary schools 669

  1. Fort Madison Elementary School Fort Madison, 932 students
  2. Oskaloosa Elementary School Oskaloosa, 903 students
  3. Titan Hill Intermediate School Council Bluffs, 901 students
  4. Henry A Wallace Elementary School Johnston, 840 students
  5. Storm Lake Elementary Storm Lake, 822 students
  6. Perry Elementary Perry, 816 students
  7. Westridge Elementary West Des Moines, 744 students
  8. Carlisle Elementary School Carlisle, 715 students
  9. Walnut Hills Elementary School Urbandale, 708 students
  10. Waukee Elementary School Waukee, 706 students
  11. Clay Elementary Altoona, 700 students
  12. Denison Elementary School Denison, 691 students
  13. Clear Creek Elementary School Clear Lake, 685 students
  14. Spalding Park Elementary Sioux City, 683 students
  15. MOC-Floyd Valley Elementary School Orange City, 672 students

Cities with the most public schools

Neighbouring states

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 and F-33 finance 2020, via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. Last reviewed October 2026. Finance figures are 2020 finance data in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation. Blank values are not available, not applicable or suppressed in the source. See the methodology.