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.
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
- Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- Metric: Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- National decile: West Des Moines's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- State decile: Same calculation restricted to Iowa cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- Letter grade: 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- Refresh: Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- Limits: The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in Iowa
Comparable Iowa cities by population.
Want crime data for your application?
SpotCrime's Real-Time Crime Data API delivers incident-level data, not just aggregate grades. Used by family-safety apps, real-estate platforms, executive protection teams, and government agencies.