How has crime changed in Iowa since 1985?

Police in Iowa reported about 238 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2025 (U.S.: 329), down from a high of 314 in 2020, and 1,205 property crimes in 2025 (U.S.: 1,552), down from a high of 3,947 in 1986. There's no figure for 1991, when police departments covering fewer than 3 in 4 of its people reported a full year. Rates count only the agencies that reported. Choose another state to compare.

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Source
FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program
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Public domain (U.S. government work); source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program
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Chartly. “How has crime changed in your state since 1985?” Chart. Data: FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend (data as of December 31, 2025). https://chart.ly/charts/crime-rates-by-state-since-1985 (accessed October 10, 2026).

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This table shows Iowa's rates and the U.S. rates each year; the download has the state the chart opens with.

Crimes per 100,000 people in Iowa and the U.S., each year
Year Violent, Iowa Violent, U.S. Property, Iowa Property, U.S.
1985 211.7 570.3 3,762.5 4,780.0
1986 235.1 633.6 3,946.8 5,015.3
1987 231.6 624.9 3,932.8 5,090.1
1988 256.8 630.2 3,851.9 5,045.9
1989 267.4 680.5 3,855.9 5,211.5
1990 301.1 749.8 3,845.2 5,227.0
1991 – 798.1 – 5,388.4
1992 209.6 785.4 2,561.6 5,089.3
1993 264.6 764.1 2,885.5 4,814.1
1994 281.5 740.4 2,988.3 4,752.4
1995 309.9 720.6 3,399.3 4,796.6
1996 251.2 658.8 3,128.4 4,553.0
1997 257.9 644.9 3,095.0 4,494.7
1998 270.9 603.8 2,889.8 4,212.6
1999 274.6 545.8 2,930.4 3,872.6
2000 276.1 534.4 3,014.0 3,751.7
2001 274.1 529.5 3,072.7 3,801.5
2002 293.1 512.9 3,244.8 3,737.7
2003 281.0 493.7 3,033.8 3,704.0
2004 290.7 478.6 2,947.9 3,599.4
2005 299.9 483.0 2,925.0 3,518.3
2006 290.7 486.9 2,887.7 3,397.1
2007 304.7 477.9 2,703.4 3,316.1
2008 292.1 463.7 2,491.2 3,252.3
2009 286.2 436.8 2,384.8 3,076.7
2010 274.4 408.1 2,319.0 2,963.4
2011 262.2 390.1 2,417.7 2,925.7
2012 268.2 390.7 2,354.1 2,881.3
2013 278.6 378.2 2,275.0 2,759.3
2014 274.6 373.7 2,126.9 2,591.8
2015 278.5 384.6 2,104.5 2,495.2
2016 296.6 399.5 2,151.3 2,469.1
2017 291.1 397.5 2,124.9 2,372.4
2018 232.6 384.8 1,588.9 2,206.8
2019 290.3 381.0 1,882.8 2,109.0
2020 313.8 399.3 1,744.7 1,955.3
2021 300.2 360.9 1,556.9 1,762.2
2022 295.5 398.2 1,450.9 1,998.5
2023 279.8 385.6 1,486.8 1,950.5
2024 247.3 363.4 1,331.1 1,766.8
2025 238.2 329.3 1,204.8 1,552.1

Crimes per 100,000 people, as police reported them to the FBI.

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