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Local Area Unemployment Statistics, State and Area Employment, JOLTS · Iowa

How is the job market in Iowa?

The unemployment rate in Iowa was 3.2% in the month ended , against 4.2% for the United States.

Iowa, unemployment, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Iowa, unemployment, each month, one row for each measure
  • Unemployment rate3.2%2.5% to 11.0%
  • Participation rate66.9%65.3% to 70.2%
  • Employment-population ratio64.7%60.3% to 68.2%

Iowa, people, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Iowa, people, each month, one row for each measure
  • Labor force, thousands1,721.21,629.1 to 1,743.8
  • Employed, thousands1,665.51,500.8 to 1,695.9
  • Unemployed, thousands55.742.4 to 186.4

Iowa, jobs and pay, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Iowa, jobs and pay, each month, one row for each measure
  • Nonfarm payrolls, thousands1,587.41,412.6 to 1,604.4
  • Average hourly earnings$31.23$22.84 to $31.23
  • Average weekly hours34.132.8 to 35.2

Iowa, openings and turnover rates, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Iowa, openings and turnover rates, each month, one row for each measure
  • Job openings rate3.5%3.2% to 7.5%
  • Hires rate3.2%2.7% to 5.9%
  • Quits rate2.3%1.1% to 3.3%
  • Layoffs and discharges rate0.9%0.6% to 7.1%
  • Total separations rate3.4%2.6% to 9.5%

Each row is one measure of Iowa over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

Iowa, openings and turnover, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Iowa, openings and turnover, each month, one row for each measure
  • Job openings, thousands5746 to 127
  • Hires, thousands5044 to 94
  • Quits, thousands3616 to 52
  • Layoffs and discharges, thousands1410 to 112
  • Total separations, thousands5342 to 150

Each row is one measure of Iowa over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

Right now

The unemployment rate in Iowa was 3.2% in September 2026, ranking 42nd highest of 51 among the states and the District of Columbia.

Over a year it is down 0.2 percentage points (ours). The rate for the United States was 4.2% in the same month. The source marks this value preliminary.

The unemployment rate in September 2026 was the lowest since June 2024.

See every measure with its value and rank

Jobs and payOurs: change and rank

Nonfarm payroll employment was 1,587.4 thousand in September 2026, up 0.3% over a year (ours), 32nd highest of 51.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private payrolls was $31.23 in September 2026, up 2.0% over a year (ours), 46th highest of 51.

See the payrolls, hours and earnings

Job openings and turnoverOurs: change and rank

The job openings rate was 3.5% in December 2025, down 0.6 percentage points over a year (ours), 39th highest of 51.

The hires rate was 3.2% in December 2025, up 0.2 percentage points over a year (ours), 32nd highest of 51.

The quits rate was 2.3% in December 2025, up 0.3 percentage points over a year (ours), 17th highest of 51.

See every openings and turnover figure

Understanding the labor market of Iowa

Where it stands today

The unemployment rate in Iowa was 3.2% in September 2026.

What do the figures for Iowa measure?

This page gathers the labor market figures of Iowa that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes: how many people are in the labor force, at work and unemployed, how many payroll jobs there are and what they pay, and how many jobs are open and how many people were hired, quit or lost a job.

Read more

The unemployment figures come from Local Area Unemployment Statistics, a model that BLS runs for each state every month. The payroll jobs, hours and earnings come from a monthly survey of employers, and the job openings and labor turnover from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

What 500metrics adds: each figure's rank among the fifty states and the District of Columbia, its change over a year, the last time it was higher and lower, the nation's figure beside a rate where BLS gives one, and the last ten years of every figure as small charts.

The numbers behind the chart

What are the latest figures for Iowa?19 measures, each in its own newest month
Iowa: the newest month of each measure, its change over a year (ours), its rank among the states and the District of Columbia, the nation's value and the last months it was higher and lower (ours)
MeasureSectionMonthValueChange over a yearRankUnited StatesLast higherLast lower
Unemployment rateUnemployment3.2%−0.2 pts42 of 514.2%
Participation rateUnemployment66.9%−0.9 pts4 of 5161.8%
Employment-population ratioUnemployment64.7%−0.8 pts5 of 5159.2%
Labor forcePeople1,721.2 thousand−1.0%31 of 51n/a
EmployedPeople1,665.5 thousand−0.8%31 of 51n/a
UnemployedPeople55.7 thousand−6.7%34 of 51n/a
Nonfarm payrollsJobs and pay1,587.4 thousand+0.3%32 of 51n/a
Average hourly earningsJobs and pay$31.23+2.0%46 of 51n/anone since 2007
Average weekly hoursJobs and pay34.1 hours0.0%21 of 51n/a
Job openings rateOpenings and turnover rates3.5%−0.6 pts39 of 514.0%
Hires rateOpenings and turnover rates3.2%+0.2 pts32 of 513.3%
Quits rateOpenings and turnover rates2.3%+0.3 pts17 of 512.0%
Layoffs and discharges rateOpenings and turnover rates0.9%−0.1 pts34 of 511.1%
Total separations rateOpenings and turnover rates3.4%+0.2 pts20 of 513.3%
Job openingsOpenings and turnover57 thousand−16.2%34 of 51n/a
HiresOpenings and turnover50 thousand+4.2%32 of 51n/a
QuitsOpenings and turnover36 thousand+12.5%31 of 51n/a
Layoffs and dischargesOpenings and turnover14 thousand−12.5%32 of 51n/a
Total separationsOpenings and turnover53 thousand+3.9%32 of 51n/a

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What is the unemployment rate in each county of Iowa?99 counties, September 2026, by name
Iowa: the unemployment rate of each county in September 2026 and a year before, not seasonally adjusted (the change ours)
CountyRateA year beforeChange
Adair County1.9%2.0%−0.1 pts
Adams County2.2%2.5%−0.3 pts
Allamakee County3.2%2.6%+0.6 pts
Appanoose County3.9%3.6%+0.3 pts
Audubon County2.2%2.3%−0.1 pts
Benton County2.9%2.7%+0.2 pts
Black Hawk County3.6%3.8%−0.2 pts
Boone County2.4%2.5%−0.1 pts
Bremer County3.0%3.0%0.0 pts
Buchanan County2.9%3.1%−0.2 pts
Buena Vista County2.6%2.6%0.0 pts
Butler County3.1%3.0%+0.1 pts
Calhoun County2.6%2.4%+0.2 pts
Carroll County2.4%2.1%+0.3 pts
Cass County2.7%2.4%+0.3 pts
Cedar County2.7%2.8%−0.1 pts
Cerro Gordo County3.0%2.9%+0.1 pts
Cherokee County2.2%1.9%+0.3 pts
Chickasaw County2.5%2.2%+0.3 pts
Clarke County2.5%2.7%−0.2 pts
Clay County2.7%2.8%−0.1 pts
Clayton County2.8%3.0%−0.2 pts
Clinton County4.6%4.5%+0.1 pts
Crawford County3.7%3.6%+0.1 pts
Dallas County3.0%2.8%+0.2 pts
Show 74 more rows
CountyRateA year beforeChange
Davis County3.5%3.6%−0.1 pts
Decatur County3.3%2.8%+0.5 pts
Delaware County2.5%2.5%0.0 pts
Des Moines County4.2%3.6%+0.6 pts
Dickinson County2.8%3.0%−0.2 pts
Dubuque County3.1%3.0%+0.1 pts
Emmet County3.2%4.0%−0.8 pts
Fayette County3.1%2.9%+0.2 pts
Floyd County3.2%3.2%0.0 pts
Franklin County3.2%2.6%+0.6 pts
Fremont County2.7%2.9%−0.2 pts
Greene County3.3%2.4%+0.9 pts
Grundy County2.8%2.6%+0.2 pts
Guthrie County2.7%2.8%−0.1 pts
Hamilton County2.5%2.2%+0.3 pts
Hancock County2.6%2.9%−0.3 pts
Hardin County2.8%2.7%+0.1 pts
Harrison County2.7%2.5%+0.2 pts
Henry County3.5%2.9%+0.6 pts
Howard County2.6%2.4%+0.2 pts
Humboldt County2.6%2.7%−0.1 pts
Ida County2.5%2.1%+0.4 pts
Iowa County2.9%2.8%+0.1 pts
Jackson County3.7%3.6%+0.1 pts
Jasper County3.2%3.1%+0.1 pts
Jefferson County3.3%3.1%+0.2 pts
Johnson County2.8%2.5%+0.3 pts
Jones County3.2%3.5%−0.3 pts
Keokuk County2.8%3.0%−0.2 pts
Kossuth County2.9%2.2%+0.7 pts
Lee County3.5%3.6%−0.1 pts
Linn County3.5%3.5%0.0 pts
Louisa County3.0%3.1%−0.1 pts
Lucas County3.5%3.1%+0.4 pts
Lyon County2.1%2.1%0.0 pts
Madison County2.8%2.6%+0.2 pts
Mahaska County2.5%2.3%+0.2 pts
Marion County2.6%2.4%+0.2 pts
Marshall County4.7%4.8%−0.1 pts
Mills County2.8%3.3%−0.5 pts
Mitchell County2.6%2.2%+0.4 pts
Monona County2.7%2.2%+0.5 pts
Monroe County3.0%3.5%−0.5 pts
Montgomery County2.7%2.4%+0.3 pts
Muscatine County3.6%3.5%+0.1 pts
O'Brien County2.2%2.2%0.0 pts
Osceola County1.9%2.1%−0.2 pts
Page County2.5%2.6%−0.1 pts
Palo Alto County2.4%2.5%−0.1 pts
Plymouth County2.7%2.4%+0.3 pts
Pocahontas County2.7%2.9%−0.2 pts
Polk County3.4%3.4%0.0 pts
Pottawattamie County3.4%3.5%−0.1 pts
Poweshiek County2.6%2.7%−0.1 pts
Ringgold County2.3%2.5%−0.2 pts
Sac County2.4%2.6%−0.2 pts
Scott County4.6%4.6%0.0 pts
Shelby County2.4%2.4%0.0 pts
Sioux County2.1%1.8%+0.3 pts
Story County3.1%2.7%+0.4 pts
Tama County3.9%3.6%+0.3 pts
Taylor County2.2%2.3%−0.1 pts
Union County3.0%3.0%0.0 pts
Van Buren County2.9%3.1%−0.2 pts
Wapello County4.1%4.8%−0.7 pts
Warren County3.0%2.8%+0.2 pts
Washington County2.4%2.0%+0.4 pts
Wayne County2.6%2.4%+0.2 pts
Webster County3.3%3.1%+0.2 pts
Winnebago County3.1%3.3%−0.2 pts
Winneshiek County2.4%2.2%+0.2 pts
Woodbury County3.2%3.1%+0.1 pts
Worth County2.4%2.5%−0.1 pts
Wright County2.5%2.4%+0.1 pts
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The unemployment figures of a state are estimates from a model, not a count. BLS revises the latest months as more data arrive and revises the past years every March.
  • The payroll figures are estimates from a survey of employers. BLS revises them twice after the first release and once a year, when it benchmarks them to the count of jobs covered by unemployment insurance. Average hourly earnings and average weekly hours are for all employees on private payrolls and are not seasonally adjusted.
  • The state figures of job openings and labor turnover come from a survey whose estimates for a single state have a larger sampling error than the nation's. Each figure shows its own newest month, which can be older than the month of the unemployment rate.
  • A rank is among the fifty states and the District of Columbia in the same month, highest value first, and a large state ranks high on a count of people or jobs. The changes, the ranks and the months a figure was last higher and lower are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes.
  • The county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so each county's rate is set beside its own rate a year before.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Current Population Survey; State and Area Employment, Hours, and Earnings; Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey), labor market of Iowa, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How is the job market in Iowa?", https://500metrics.com/states/iowa.

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