The 10 Iowa Cities With The Largest Asian Population For 2023


We used data and science to determine the cities in Iowa with the largest Asian population.

HomeSnacks is reader-supported. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.

Across most of America, the African American and Hispanic communities comprise "most of the minority". We're not totally sure that's a term, but it's an accurate reflection of the state of race in America.

Asians are a "minority of the minority", generally. But not everywhere.

There are now over 17 million people who identify as Asian living in America, making up 5.6% of the total population. According to the most recent American Community Survey, the Asian population in Iowa is 78,532 - at 2.5% of the total population of Iowa.

And, unlike African Americans that fall under one group in the Census, Asian Americans have many sub-groups -- Chinese, Filipino, and Indian being the three largest sub-groups.

So, what how does the Asian population stratify across Iowa? Which cities and towns in Iowa have seen the greatest increase in their Asian population?

Here are the cities in Iowa with the largest Asian population in 2023:

  1. Storm Lake
  2. Ames
  3. Coralville
  4. Fairfield
  5. Iowa City
  6. Des Moines
  7. Johnston
  8. Bettendorf
  9. West Des Moines
  10. Clive

Which city in Iowa had the largest Asian population? Storm Lake took the number one over all spot for the largest Asian in Iowa for 2023. 15.26% of Storm Lake identify as Asian.

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked.

To see where Iowa ranked as a state on diversity, we have a ranking of the most diverse states in America.

And if you already knew these places were Asian, check out the best places to live in Iowa or the most diverse places in Iowa.

The 10 Most Asian Cities In Iowa For 2023

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 11,166
% Asian: 15.26%
# Of Asian Residents: 1,704
Percent Change Since 2010: 143.78%
More on Storm Lake: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Storm Lake, IA

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 65,522
% Asian: 10.51%
# Of Asian Residents: 6,888
Percent Change Since 2010: 37.29%
More on Ames: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Ames, IA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 22,226
% Asian: 9.71%
# Of Asian Residents: 2,158
Percent Change Since 2010: 44.64%
More on Coralville: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Coralville, IA

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 9,653
% Asian: 8.48%
# Of Asian Residents: 819
Percent Change Since 2010: -18.75%
More on Fairfield: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Fairfield, IA

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 74,240
% Asian: 7.65%
# Of Asian Residents: 5,680
Percent Change Since 2010: 28.19%
More on Iowa City: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Iowa City, IA

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 213,545
% Asian: 7.09%
# Of Asian Residents: 15,142
Percent Change Since 2010: 74.17%
More on Des Moines: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Des Moines, IA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 23,418
% Asian: 6.46%
# Of Asian Residents: 1,513
Percent Change Since 2010: 71.54%
More on Johnston: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Johnston, IA

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 38,631
% Asian: 6.38%
# Of Asian Residents: 2,466
Percent Change Since 2010: 278.8%
More on Bettendorf: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Bettendorf, IA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 67,640
% Asian: 6.27%
# Of Asian Residents: 4,243
Percent Change Since 2010: 56.68%
More on West Des Moines: Real Estate | Data | Photos

West Des Moines, IA

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 18,323
% Asian: 5.42%
# Of Asian Residents: 993
Percent Change Since 2010: 165.51%
More on Clive: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Clive, IA

Source: Public domain

Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In Iowa With The Largest Asian Population For 2023

We still believe in the accuracy of data -- especially from the census. So that's where we went to get the breakdown of race across Iowa.

That lead us to the Census's most recently available data, the 2017-2021 American Community Survey data from the US Census.

Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:

  • Hispanic or Latino
  • White alone*
  • Black or African American alone*
  • American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
  • Asian alone*
  • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
  • Some other race alone*
  • Two or more races*
* Not Hispanic or latino

Our particular column of interest here was the number of people who identified as Asian alone.

We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 76 cities.

We then calculated the percent of residents that are Asian. The percentages ranked from 15.3% to 0.0%.

Finally, we ranked each city based on the percent of Asian population with a higher score being more Asian than a lower score. Storm Lake took the distinction of being the most Asian, while Winterset was the least Asian city. You can download the data here.

Read on for more information on how the cities in Iowa ranked by population of Asian residents or, for a more general take on diversity in America, head over to our ranking of the most diverse cities in America.

Summary: Asian Populations Across Iowa

If you're looking for a breakdown of Asian populations across Iowa according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.

If you're curious enough, here are the least Asian places in Iowa:

  1. Winterset
  2. Independence
  3. Iowa Falls

For more Iowa reading, check out:

Table: Asian Population By City In Iowa

Rank City % Asian Population
1 Storm Lake 15.26% 11,166
2 Ames 10.51% 65,522
3 Coralville 9.71% 22,226
4 Fairfield 8.48% 9,653
5 Iowa City 7.65% 74,240
6 Des Moines 7.09% 213,545
7 Johnston 6.46% 23,418
8 Bettendorf 6.38% 38,631
9 West Des Moines 6.27% 67,640
10 Clive 5.42% 18,323
11 Webster City 4.83% 7,825
12 Urbandale 4.81% 45,037
13 Mount Pleasant 4.8% 8,996
14 Waukee 4.74% 23,441
15 Marshalltown 4.67% 27,570
16 North Liberty 4.41% 19,976
17 Cedar Falls 4.36% 40,500
18 Denison 4.31% 8,323
19 Grinnell 4.1% 9,481
20 Clear Lake 3.84% 7,673
21 Pleasant Hill 3.61% 10,203
22 Hiawatha 3.33% 7,184
23 Sioux City 2.89% 85,081
24 Cedar Rapids 2.71% 136,512
25 Waterloo 2.52% 67,695
26 Ankeny 2.48% 66,346
27 Charles City 2.43% 7,399
28 Clarinda 2.29% 5,498
29 Oskaloosa 2.19% 11,552
30 Davenport 2.16% 101,725
31 Anamosa 2.16% 5,332
32 Pella 2.03% 10,414
33 Waverly 2.01% 10,278
34 Eldridge 1.99% 6,634
35 Grimes 1.98% 14,842
36 Fort Dodge 1.94% 24,826
37 Marion 1.77% 41,023
38 Ottumwa 1.66% 25,379
39 Decorah 1.64% 7,767
40 Indianola 1.54% 15,544
41 Dubuque 1.53% 59,379
42 Burlington 1.31% 24,160
43 Sheldon 1.13% 5,475
44 Sioux Center 1.12% 8,090
45 Creston 1.09% 7,594
46 Washington 1.04% 7,314
47 Keokuk 1.0% 9,977
48 Cherokee 0.93% 5,141
49 Council Bluffs 0.91% 62,617
50 Knoxville 0.88% 7,537
51 Mason City 0.78% 27,385
52 Spencer 0.72% 11,292
53 Atlantic 0.6% 6,795
54 Clinton 0.6% 24,651
55 Altoona 0.57% 19,345
56 Carroll 0.56% 10,261
57 Norwalk 0.53% 12,592
58 Muscatine 0.51% 23,759
59 Algona 0.5% 5,407
60 Le Mars 0.47% 10,462
61 Red Oak 0.41% 5,576
62 Perry 0.23% 7,836
63 Newton 0.12% 15,688
64 Orange City 0.1% 6,214
65 Centerville 0.09% 5,353
66 Estherville 0.07% 5,904
67 Fort Madison 0.04% 10,340
68 Glenwood 0.04% 5,224
69 Boone 0.01% 12,509
70 Nevada 0.0% 7,017
71 Maquoketa 0.0% 6,123
72 Manchester 0.0% 5,077
73 Oelwein 0.0% 5,961
74 Iowa Falls 0.0% 5,154
75 Independence 0.0% 6,088
76 Winterset 0.0% 5,309

How Is The Area In ?

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the cities in Iowa with the largest Asian population.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.