Best Middle Schools in Iowa

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Find the best Iowa middle 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 344)	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
61	Cascade Junior-Senior High School	Public	6-12	505 Johnson St NW	Cascade	52033	Dubuque County	Western Dubuque Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 663-9640	392	33	11.9	23.2%	357 (91.1%)	2 (0.5%)	25 (6.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.8%)	$17,184			$110			$17,075	73.9	86.1	17	44		193135001825
62	Summit Middle School	Public	6-7	9500 Windsor Parkway	Johnston	50131	Polk County	Johnston Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 986-0318	1,118	73	15.4	26.0%	747 (66.8%)	113 (10.1%)	80 (7.2%)	123 (11.0%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	48 (4.3%)	$11,977			$474			$11,503	73.8	68.9	96	34		191545000749
63	Jesup Middle School	Public	5-8	531 Prospect	Jesup	50648	Buchanan County	Jesup Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 827-1700	249	18	14	22.1%	241 (96.8%)	1 (0.4%)	5 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$9,239			$118			$9,121	73.4	66.8	108	45		191533002051
64	North Mahaska Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	2163 135th St	New Sharon	50207	Mahaska County	North Mahaska Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 637-4187	275	21	13	24.7%	258 (93.8%)	2 (0.7%)	5 (1.8%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.9%)	$15,724			$178			$15,545	73.4	62.5	133	69		192085001245
65	Pekin Community Junior/ Senior High School	Public	7-12	1062 Birch Ave	Packwood	52580	Jefferson County	Pekin Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 695-3705	258	22	11.7	42.2%	244 (94.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	$14,808			$218			$14,591	73.1	50	196	131		192244001343
66	Union Middle School	Public	6-8	505 West	Dysart	52224	Tama County	Union Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 476-5100	194	16	12.1	27.8%	180 (92.8%)	1 (0.5%)	9 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.1%)	$14,761			$210			$14,552	72.8			(n/a)		190002202013
67	South Hamilton Middle And High School	Public	7-12	315 Division St	Jewell	50130	Hamilton County	South Hamilton Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 827-5418	300	23	13	27.3%	248 (82.7%)	1 (0.3%)	38 (12.7%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.7%)	$14,740			$192			$14,548	72.8	76.7	51	16		192664001549
68	Oak Ridge Middle School	Public	7-8	4901 Alburnett Road	Marion	52302	Linn County	Linn-Mar Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 447-3410	534	37	14.4	21.3%	367 (68.7%)	28 (5.2%)	35 (6.6%)	75 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (5.1%)	$12,711			$282			$12,430	72.6	72.9	72	4		191722000810
69	South Winneshiek Middle School	Public	5-8	208 E Brooks St	Ossian	52161	Winneshiek County	South Winneshiek Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 532-9365	126	11	11.6	32.5%	111 (88.1%)	1 (0.8%)	9 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.0%)	$15,752			$475			$15,278	72.5	70.7	83	14		192679001564
70	H-L-V Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	402 5th Street	Victor	52347	Iowa County	H-L-V Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 647-2161	133	9	15.3	36.1%	122 (91.7%)	4 (3.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.0%)	$16,288			$495			$15,793	72.4	41.9	228	158		191338000808

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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:

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