Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
West Des Moines, IA Crime Grade
How West 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
5/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Iowa
5/10
vs. Iowa cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in West Des Moines, IA was 145.5 per 100,000 residents (109 incidents over a population of 74,901). That puts West Des Moines Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 39% below the Iowa statewide rate of 236.6.
That ranks West Des Moines #1,587 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 58% of them, and #18 of 40 in Iowa. Violent crime is down 13% year over year and up 5% over the last five years.
West Des Moines, IA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- B (5/10)
- Iowa Grade
- B (5/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 145.5 / 100k
- National rank
- #1,587 of 3,771
- IA rank
- #18 of 40
- Safer than
- 58% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 13%
- 5-year change
- up 5%
- Population
- 74,901
- Reporting agency
- West Des Moines Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by West Des Moines Police Department (FBI ORI IA0770500) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About West Des Moines, IA
Also known as
- Valley Junction
Name history sourced from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — public-domain federal geographic-names data.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. West Des Moines (red), Iowa (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
West 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 | 139.2(98) | 251.8(178) | 174.4(125) | 167.7(123) | 145.5(109) |
| Murder | 0.0(0) | 2.8(2) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 34.1(24) | 25.5(18) | 36.3(26) | 23.2(17) | 20.0(15) |
| Robbery | 22.7(16) | 28.3(20) | 23.7(17) | 12.3(9) | 6.7(5) |
| Aggravated assault | 82.4(58) | 195.2(138) | 114.4(82) | 132.3(97) | 118.8(89) |
| Property crime | 1602.0(1,128) | 1732.6(1,225) | 2221.2(1,592) | 1733.1(1,271) | 1524.7(1,142) |
| Burglary | 198.8(140) | 123.1(87) | 152.1(109) | 115.9(85) | 130.8(98) |
| Larceny | 1283.8(904) | 1478.1(1,045) | 1884.9(1,351) | 1486.3(1,090) | 1279.0(958) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 113.6(80) | 125.9(89) | 171.6(123) | 128.2(94) | 112.1(84) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the West 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 West 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 West Des Moines calculated?
- West 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 West 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 West Des Moines to other places
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