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Public schools · Iowa · Ratings on state test data

Best Schools in Iowa (2026)

Moving to Iowa? 196 districts have enough rated campuses to compare, from Fort Dodge Comm School District at the bottom of the field to Grundy Center Comm School District at the top, and the boundary you choose inside a metro matters more than the state line.

The fieldAverage campus rating of every comparable district, on the 1–10 scale.
District averages run3.6Fort Dodge Comm School Districtto8.8Grundy Center Comm School Districton the one-to-ten scale.

196 districts rated · median district 6.8

The local route

No metro map yet; start with the biggest places.

  1. Des Moines

    79 schools on file.

  2. Cedar Rapids

    53 schools on file.

  3. Sioux City

    29 schools on file.

The districts

Every comparable district on one 1–10 axis, by size.

The ten highest-rated of 196 comparable districts

Average campus rating · rated campuses · students
  1. 1Grundy Center Comm School District8.83796
  2. 2West Hancock Comm School District8.73628
  3. 3Union Comm School District8.64985
  4. 4Maquoketa Valley Comm School District8.35698
  5. 5South Winneshiek Comm School District8.33554
  6. 6Kingsley-Pierson Comm School District8.33438
  7. 7St Ansgar Comm School District8.33610
  8. 8Moc-Floyd Valley Comm School District8.231,544
  9. 9Pleasant Valley Comm School District8.285,826
  10. 10Alta-Aurelia Comm School District8.24822

See all 328 districts in Iowa

The schools

The ten highest-rated schools; open a profile for the evidence.
  1. 1South Page Elementary SchoolCollege SpringsElementary629.9
  2. 2North Union ElementaryFentonElementary1259.8
  3. 3New Albin Elementary SchoolLansingElementary1289.8
  4. 4Cal Elementary SchoolLatimerElementary1819.7
  5. 5Akron Westfield Elementary SchoolAkronElementary2459.6
  6. 6Parkersburg Elementary SchoolParkersburgElementary2039.6
  7. 7Anthon ElementaryAnthonElementary549.6
  8. 8Johnston Elementary SchoolHopkintonElementary1019.6
  9. 9Montezuma Elementary SchoolMontezumaElementary2299.6
  10. 10Mitchellville ElementaryMitchellvilleElementary2449.5

See all 1,505 schools in Iowa

The map

Where the highest-rated schools sit.
The 48 highest-rated schools in Iowa, pinned and colored by score.Pins are locations, not attendance boundaries.

The cities

The twenty places with the most schools.
  1. Des Moines79
  2. Cedar Rapids53
  3. Sioux City29
  4. Davenport28
  5. Dubuque24
  6. Waterloo22
  7. Iowa City21
  8. Ankeny20
  9. Council Bluffs20
  10. West Des Moines19
  11. Marion16
  12. Bettendorf15
  13. Ottumwa13
  14. Cedar Falls12
  15. Fort Dodge12
  16. Mason City12
  17. Burlington11
  18. Muscatine11
  19. Waukee11
  20. Ames10

Browse all 431 cities in Iowa

Student demographics

  • White79.5%
  • Hispanic or Latino8.6%
  • Black or African American5.4%
  • Asian3.2%
  • Two or More Races2.7%
  • American Indian/Alaska Native0.3%
  • Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander0.3%

Weighted by each source's student count across 198 schools. Source: NCES Private School Universe Survey (PSS) · SY 2023–24; NCES Private School Universe Survey (PSS) · SY 2021–22.

The record

Total schools
1,505
public and private · 1.2% of all US schools listed
Districts
328
Cities/towns
431
Average rating
6.4
out of 10 · 1,432 rated schools
Math proficiency
74%
avg across schools with state test results
ELA proficiency
73%
avg across schools with state test results
Avg student-teacher ratio
14.5:1
Estimated scores
2%
36 of 1,505 schools use estimated academic data from nearby schools
National rank
#17 of 52
states by avg. composite
Vs. national average
+0.0
above US avg (6.4)
Coverage
95%
of schools with a rating

Community profile

Averages across 463 ZIP codes (Census ACS 5-year estimates)

Median income
$76,272
Median home value
$180,326
Median rent
$838/mo
College educated
26%
Avg commute
22 min
Poverty rate
9.8%

Questions

How many schools are ranked in Iowa?

MySchoolScout lists 1,505 public and private schools across 328 districts in Iowa, and 1,432 of them have a MySchoolScout rating.

What is the average school rating in Iowa?

The average MySchoolScout composite score for the 1,432 rated schools in Iowa is 6.4 out of 10.

What percentage of students in Iowa are proficient in math?

On average, 73.9% of students are proficient in math across Iowa schools with state test results, based on the most recent state assessment data.

What percentage of students in Iowa are proficient in reading?

On average, 73.2% of students are proficient in reading and ELA across Iowa schools with state test results, based on the most recent state assessment data.

What is the average student-teacher ratio in Iowa?

The average student-teacher ratio across Iowa schools that report one is 14.5:1.

What is the top-ranked school in Iowa?

The top-ranked school in Iowa on MySchoolScout is South Page Elementary School in College Springs, with a composite score of 9.9/10.

How does MySchoolScout rate schools in Iowa?

MySchoolScout rates schools using publicly available data from the NCES Common Core of Data and the Iowa Department of Education. Schools with enough data receive a 1-10 composite score built from Student Growth, Poverty-Adjusted Academic Achievement, and School Environment, plus College Readiness for high schools. Weights vary by school level, and equity data is shown for context but not scored.

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Related reading

Data from NCES Common Core of Data, Iowa Dept. of Education, and U.S. Census ACS. The period is shown with each figure or in its source details.Rankings computed by MySchoolScout. See all data sources.