2025 Compare Cities Education:
Des Moines, IA vs Iowa City, IA

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Highlights
- Iowa City spends 24.2% more per student than Des Moines.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 10.6% lower in Iowa City than in Des Moines. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Iowa City had 11.6% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Des Moines
 Des Moines, IAIowa City, IAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$17,755$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$11,894  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,669$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio15.53  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock5004573
 Students per Counselor362  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock1.6%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.6.4%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock97.2%88.9%
 Some College Educ.20.2%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.3%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.28.1%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock17.1%9.3%
 Professional Degree1.8%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock8.0%1.5%
Reviews for Des Moines    53 Reviews

Des Moines is a ok and pretty quiet place but as a teen it could be dramatic because Des Moines do have is fair or violents places to avoid in Des Moines would be the  More

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Dude · 
Over 5 years ago

This city is violent, there are too many gangs especially on the north  More

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Over 6 years ago

Good for the old that like slow pace and cheap buffets. Also good for non-descript mid-westerners that don't like a lot of action. No nightlife or mountains to hike  More

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Reviews for Iowa City    24 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

I was there 5 years. Nothing to do but we’ll go shopping... at Walmart. It lacks so many things. There is no experience here, it jumps on any political band wagon and  More

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Over 5 years ago

Entertainment lacks greatly - especially the Hancher shows. I was hoping after they rebuilt they would be getting better shows there, that didn't happen. One has to  More

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Over 7 years ago

Iowa City is great. It's diverse and never boring. There always a variety of new shops and restaurants to explore and try out. Also watching college kids do stupid  More

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