Iowa · NCES CCD 2024-25

Best Public Schools in Iowa

Top 50 schools ranked by resource quality score, based on student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance.

Compiled from official source data by .
70/100
Top score
B
Top grade
64/100
Avg score (top 50)
50
Schools ranked

The ranking in one line

St Ansgar High School in St Ansgar is Iowa's top-resourced public school, scoring 70/100 on the NCES resource index.

70/100
top score (grade B)
1
schools at the top grade (B)
64/100
average across the top 50
# School GradeScore
1 St Ansgar High School St Ansgar B 70
2 Adair-Casey Jr. High School Adair B- 69
3 Riceville Elementary School Riceville B- 68
4 Cam South Elementary School Massena B- 68
5 West Hancock High School Britt B- 68
6 Andrew Elementary School Andrew B- 67
7 Janesville Elementary School Janesville B- 66
8 Irwin Elementary School Irwin B- 66
9 Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Elementary School Hartley B- 65
10 Madrid Elementary School Madrid B- 65
11 Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton Elementary Exira B- 65
12 Hawarden Elementary School Hawarden B- 65
13 Van Buren County Community School District Harmony Center Farmington B- 65
14 West Bend-Mallard Elementary School West Bend B- 65
15 Madrid Junior High School Madrid B- 65
16 Colfax-Mingo Elementary School Colfax C+ 64
17 Lenox Elementary School Lenox C+ 64
18 Grundy Center Middle School Grundy Center C+ 64
19 South Winneshiek Elementary School Ossian C+ 64
20 Mormon Trail Elementary School Humeston C+ 64
21 North Union Elementary Fenton C+ 64
22 Essex Elementary School Essex C+ 64
23 Solon High School Solon C+ 63
24 Westwood Elementary School Sloan C+ 63
25 Hinton Elementary School Hinton C+ 63
26 West Elementary School Emmetsburg C+ 63
27 Akron Westfield Elementary School Akron C+ 63
28 Turkey Valley Elementary School Jackson Junction C+ 63
29 Clarksville Elementary School Clarksville C+ 63
30 Harris-Lake Park High School Lake Park C+ 63
31 H-L-V Elementary School Victor C+ 63
32 Southeast Warren Primary Milo C+ 63
33 West Harrison Middle School/High School Mondamin C+ 63
34 Panorama Middle School Panora C+ 63
35 Mcgregor Intermediate School Mcgregor C+ 63
36 Fredericksburg Elem School Fredericksburg C+ 63
37 Woodside Middle School Des Moines C+ 62
38 Solon Middle School Solon C+ 62
39 Cardinal Junior High Eldon C+ 62
40 Grundy Center Elementary School Grundy Center C+ 62
41 West Union Elementary School West Union C+ 62
42 Lucia Wallace Elementary School Algona C+ 62
43 Parkersburg Elementary School Parkersburg C+ 62
44 Riceville High School Riceville C+ 62
45 Woodbury Central High School Moville C+ 62
46 Tripoli Middle/Sr High School Tripoli C+ 62
47 Dallas Center Elementary Dallas Center C+ 62
48 Virgil Grissom Elementary School Princeton C+ 62
49 Highland Middle School Riverside C+ 62
50 Lincoln Intermediate Mason City C+ 61

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best public schools in Iowa? ▼

The top-rated school in Iowa is St Ansgar High School in St Ansgar with a quality score of 70/100 (grade B). Rankings are based on student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted programs, and attendance rates from NCES data.

How are school quality scores calculated? ▼

Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data across 4 metrics: student-teacher ratio (lower is better, national avg ~16:1), counselor availability (ASCA recommends 250:1), gifted program availability, and chronic absenteeism rate (lower is better). This measures school resources, not test scores.

Explore More for Iowa

All Schools → Largest Schools → Absenteeism Data → Highest Spending → National Ranking →

Methodology

Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 metrics: student-teacher ratio, school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates. Schools must have at least 50 students and data for one or more metrics. This measures resource quality, not test scores. Higher scores indicate smaller class sizes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.