NextChapter

Iowa jobs and job market: layoffs, colleges and workforce help

Iowa’s unemployment rate is 3.2%. 1,667 open professional jobs are listed here. Employers filed 93 layoff notices in the last 12 months. Choose a county or city for the same picture closer to home.

Independent page. Not from or affiliated with the State of Iowa.

Looking for work in Iowa? See where you stand.

Not sure you match what employers here are hiring for? Get a free read on your fit, the jobs open near you and a plan for the weeks ahead.

Show me jobs near me

Iowa economy

  • 3.2%

    unemployment, Sep 2026

    3.4% the month before

  • 1,721,196

    in the labor force

    Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics

  • 3,195,937

    people in Iowa

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau

  • $73,147

    median household income

    Source: Census ACS

  • 39%

    of workers in white-collar occupations

    Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Iowa outlook: Steady

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

  • Private-sector jobs up 1.0% from 2022 to 2025
  • Population up 1.5% from 2020 to 2025
  • Unemployment 3.2%, up 0.1 points from a year ago
  • Sectors adding the most jobs: health care (+10,946 jobs), hotels & food (+5,489 jobs)
  • Sectors losing the most jobs: manufacturing (−6,965 jobs), admin & staffing (−6,391 jobs)

Local job-market news

Recent headlines about layoffs, AI and jobs in Iowa. Each link goes to the publisher.

Learn and get funded in Iowa

Iowa layoffs

  • 93

    Layoff notices, last 12 months

  • 3,637

    workers named

    A floor: states may leave out counts

  • 34

    employers

Layoff notices filed in Iowa, newest first
Notice dateEmployerCity or countyWorkersTypeSource
Cedar Valley Medical SpecialistBlack Hawk County31ClosingState record
Collins AerospaceLinn County31Mass LayoffState record
Family EndeavorsJohnson County8Mass LayoffState record
Wells FargoPolk County86Amendment - Additional EmployeesState record
CDS GlobalPolk County51Mass LayoffState record
Milestone TechnologiesPolk County99Mass LayoffState record
Milestone TechnologiesLinn County20Mass LayoffState record
Wells FargoPolk County2Amendment - Additional EmployeesState record
Cambridge Investment ResearchJefferson County33Mass LayoffState record
Winnebago IndustriesWinnebago County51Mass LayoffState record

All layoff notices in the state

Get an email when a new notice is filed for Iowa

One email a day at most, only when there is something new. No account needed.

Employers hiring most in Iowa

Employers with the most open professional roles on our job board right now.

  1. RTX102 open roles
  2. BAE Systems52 open roles
  3. Principal Financial Group33 open roles
  4. FHLBank Des Moines19 open roles
  5. Cambrex17 open roles
  6. Olsson16 open roles
  7. Amazon15 open roles
  8. Mediacom Communications15 open roles
  9. Pella15 open roles
  10. Top Echelon Network (recruiter member boards)15 open roles
  11. LCS14 open roles
  12. Rolling Green Village14 open roles

Largest employers headquartered in Iowa

Employee counts with a year are published figures (Wikidata). Other sizes are estimates from our company directory, not payroll counts.

Higher education in Iowa

  • 35

    public and private non-profit colleges

    Source: IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education

  • about 239,500

    students enrolled

    Estimated from size bands

Largest colleges in Iowa

Largest colleges in Iowa
CollegeCityTypeStudents
Iowa State UniversityAmesPublic 4-year20,000+
University of IowaIowa CityPublic 4-year20,000+
University of Northern IowaCedar FallsPublic 4-year5,000–9,999
Buena Vista UniversityStorm LakePrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Central CollegePellaPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Coe CollegeCedar RapidsPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Cornell CollegeMount VernonPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Des Moines University-Osteopathic Medical CenterWest Des MoinesPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Dordt UniversitySioux CenterPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Drake UniversityDes MoinesPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Graceland University-LamoniLamoniPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Grand View UniversityDes MoinesPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999

All 35 Iowa colleges

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Iowa. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Iowa? How to file for unemployment in Iowa (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

  • Central Iowa LWDA

    Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Polk, Story, Warren

  • East Central Iowa LWDA

    Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Washington

  • Eastern Iowa Workforce Development Board

    Clinton, Des Moines, Henry, Jackson, Lee, Louisa, Muscatine, Scott

  • Iowa Plains Local Workforce Development Area

    Adair, Adams, Audubon, Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Emmet, Fremont, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Harrison, Humboldt, Ida, Kossuth, Lyon, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, O'Brien, Osceola, Page, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Sac, Shelby, Sioux, Taylor, Union, Webster, Woodbury, Wright

  • Northeast Iowa LWDA

    Allamakee, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Grundy, Hancock, Howard, Mitchell, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Worth

  • South Central Iowa LWDA

    Appanoose, Davis, Hardin, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lucas, Mahaska, Marshall, Monroe, Poweshiek, Tama, Van Buren, Wapello, Wayne

18 American Job Centers in Iowa

Conferences in Iowa

Industry conferences and trade shows held in Iowa, the ones worth a trip for hiring managers and job seekers. 10 with dates announced.

All conferences

Iowa counties

Each county page has its own unemployment, layoffs, job openings, employers, colleges and job centers.

Show all 99

Iowa cities

Cities with open jobs, layoff notices, a job center or a college.

Show all 84

Laid off or looking for work in Iowa?

See what to do first, what Iowa unemployment benefits pay, and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS for population, income and unemployment; layoff notices from Iowa’s published record; job counts from our live job board, taken from employers’ own career sites; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Iowa unemployment benefits and severance rules.

Applying and hearing nothing back?

Find out where you stand: your odds, the jobs that fit you and a plan for the week ahead. Free. No résumé needed.

Already a member? Log in

Get my Market Reality Assessment

Job seekers in Iowa looking to you for help, or openings you cannot fill?

Leave your work email. We'll send how organizations use NextChapter to reach job seekers in Iowa.

See how organizations use it