Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Des Moines, IA Crime Grade
How Des Moines grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of Iowa — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
10/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Iowa
10/10
vs. Iowa cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Des Moines, IA was 640.6 per 100,000 residents (1,364 incidents over a population of 212,933). That puts Des Moines Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 171% above the Iowa statewide rate of 236.6.
That ranks Des Moines #3,459 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 8% of them, and #38 of 40 in Iowa. Violent crime is down 9% year over year and up 1% over the last five years.
Des Moines, IA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (10/10)
- Iowa Grade
- F (10/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 640.6 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,459 of 3,771
- IA rank
- #38 of 40
- Safer than
- 8% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 9%
- 5-year change
- up 1%
- Population
- 212,933
- Reporting agency
- Des Moines Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Des Moines Police Department (FBI ORI IA0770300) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Des Moines (red), Iowa (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Des Moines vs. U.S., 2025 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 631.7(1,346) | 482.5(1,015) | 713.1(1,495) | 704.9(1,475) | 640.6(1,364) |
| Murder | 0.9(2) | 1.9(4) | 3.8(8) | 4.3(9) | 1.4(3) |
| Rape | 53.5(114) | 49.0(103) | 73.5(154) | 52.1(109) | 47.0(100) |
| Robbery | 77.4(165) | 69.9(147) | 90.6(190) | 75.0(157) | 64.8(138) |
| Aggravated assault | 499.9(1,065) | 361.7(761) | 545.2(1,143) | 573.5(1,200) | 527.4(1,123) |
| Property crime | 3191.6(6,800) | 2209.4(4,648) | 3397.4(7,123) | 3155.6(6,603) | 2824.8(6,015) |
| Burglary | 346.4(738) | 345.1(726) | 451.7(947) | 462.6(968) | 386.5(823) |
| Larceny | 2154.3(4,590) | 1398.4(2,942) | 2280.4(4,781) | 2156.3(4,512) | 1991.2(4,240) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 678.2(1,445) | 444.0(934) | 629.6(1,320) | 520.4(1,089) | 436.3(929) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Des Moines, IA Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Des Moines Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Des Moines calculated?
- Des Moines's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the Iowa state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to Iowa cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Des Moines Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in Iowa
Comparable Iowa cities by population.
Compare Des Moines to other places
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