Best Elementary Schools in Iowa

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Find the best Iowa elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Iowa test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the ISASP test scores by the Iowa Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, August 20, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 576)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
531	Butler Elementary School	Public	1-5	945 South 18th Street	Fort Dodge	50501	Webster County	Fort Dodge Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 574-5882	328	25	13.2	65.9%	209 (63.7%)	25 (7.6%)	50 (15.2%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	39 (11.9%)	$15,434			$1,605			$13,830	9.4	7.3	525	6		191182000720
532	Rue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3326 6th Avenue	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6540	385	25	15.3	43.1%	254 (66.0%)	16 (4.2%)	80 (20.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.8%)	26 (6.8%)	$19,242			$1,012			$18,230	9.3	34.7	416	116		190822000433
533	Ruthven-Ayrshire Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	1505 Washington St	Ruthven	51358	Palo Alto County	Ruthven-Ayrshire Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 837-5211	89	9	9.8	49.4%	75 (84.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (9.0%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.5%)	$16,696			$876			$15,821	9.1	13.6	495	38		192505001966
534	Moulton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1541 8th Street	Des Moines	50314	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8427	465	33	14.2	94.2%	28 (6.0%)	240 (51.6%)	140 (30.1%)	27 (5.8%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.6%)	$16,426			$1,675			$14,751	9	7.2	526	8		190897000565
535	Lincoln Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	555 Nevada Street	Dubuque	52001	Dubuque County	Dubuque Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 552-4050	257	29	8.9	72.0%	91 (35.4%)	84 (32.7%)	20 (7.8%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.5%)	50 (19.5%)	$19,748			$2,216			$17,533	8.5	10.2	511	24		190948000614
536	McKinley Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1610 SE 6th Street	Des Moines	50315	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8423	275	23	11.9	86.9%	73 (26.5%)	36 (13.1%)	128 (46.5%)	10 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (10.2%)	$18,844			$1,470			$17,374	8.4	8.1	519	17		190897000559
537	Hayes Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	622 S Concord St	Davenport	52802	Scott County	Davenport Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 723-6600	377	31	12	63.9%	198 (52.5%)	55 (14.6%)	74 (19.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	47 (12.5%)	$15,204			$1,477			$13,727	7.8	5.7	530	7		190858000470
538	Kirkwood Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1401 9th St	Coralville	52241	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 688-1120	270	27	9.9	69.6%	62 (23.0%)	135 (50.0%)	47 (17.4%)	7 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (7.0%)	$15,376			$1,350			$14,026	7.7	18.4	477	61		191470000893
539	James Wilson Grimes School	Public	K-4	800 South St.	Burlington	52601	Des Moines County	Burlington Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 753-0420	212	19	11.4	60.4%	120 (56.6%)	44 (20.8%)	19 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (13.7%)	$15,144			$1,780			$13,365	7.5	4.9	537	2		190579000187
540	Samuelson Elementary School	Public	K-5	3929 Bel-Aire Rd	Des Moines	50310	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8441	386	31	12.6	79.0%	87 (22.5%)	95 (24.6%)	55 (14.2%)	118 (30.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	30 (7.8%)	$15,980			$1,376			$14,603	7.1	13.8	493	47		190897002093

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on ISASP English Language Arts, ISASP Mathematics, ISASP Science test scores released by the Iowa Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 20, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Iowa Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds