Iowa Economy: GDP, Income and Employment

Iowa produced $271.9 billion in current-dollar GDP in 2025, 0.88% of the published U.S. total. Its real output changed -0.43% from 2024.

Gross domestic product

$271.9 billion

2025 · Current dollars · BEA SAGDP1 line 3
$271,937.2 million. Published September 30, 2026.

Real GDP growth

-0.43%

2025 vs. 2024 · Annual change
Calculated from BEA SAGDP1 line 1, chained 2017 dollars.

Unemployment rate

3.2%

August 2026 · Seasonally adjusted · Preliminary
BLS LAUS · Published September 18, 2026.

Payroll job growth

0.04%

August 2026 vs. August 2025 · Seasonally adjusted
BLS state CES · 1,585.8 thousand nonfarm jobs.

Personal income per capita

$67,321

2025 · Dollars per resident · BEA SAINC1 line 3
Before personal current taxes. Published September 30, 2026.

Regional price level

87.762

2024 · U.S. = 100 · BEA all-items RPP
Published February 19, 2026. This measures price levels, not inflation.

Iowa compared with the United States

Annual real GDP growth was 2.77 percentage points below the U.S. annual growth rate in 2025. Personal income per resident was $9,707 below the U.S. value of $77,028 in the same year. These comparisons use national observations from the same regional producer files.

The August unemployment rate was 0.9 percentage points below the national 4.1% reading. That numerical difference is not a statistical-significance claim. The 2024 price parity was 12.2% below the national benchmark. Household circumstances and local housing markets can differ from these state averages.

Where Iowa ranks among states

GDP and income history

Current-dollar output rose 45.3% between 2017 and 2025 in this acquired history. That figure includes price change and is separate from real output growth. The chart uses the published price-adjusted total; chained-dollar industry components are not added together.

Iowa real GDP, 2017–2025 — Millions of chained 2017 dollars 182.7K195.4K208.2K 20172025 Iowa real GDP, 2017–2025 — Millions of chained 2017 dollars 182.7K195.4K208.2K 20172025
Iowa annual accounts and spatial prices · acquired September 30, 2026
YearNominal GDP, $ millionsReal GDP, chained 2017 $ millionsIncome per resident, $All-items price parity
2025271,937.2204,856.167,321Not published
2024265,087.3205,738.764,92087.762
2023255,527.9203,455.562,66988.769
2022242,872.4202,298.561,34388.351
2021220,807.3198,911.558,30689.770
2020197,359.8185,123.952,67790.610
2019196,329.8188,383.749,67091.804
2018193,155.1189,136.548,74591.797
2017187,125.0187,125.046,72589.213

Missing 2025 price parities mean that year was not published in the acquired file. They are not treated as zero or estimated from another year.

Employment and unemployment history

Unemployment describes eligible resident jobseekers as a share of the civilian labor force. Payroll employment describes jobs at establishments in Iowa. A commuter can live in another state; a person with multiple covered jobs can contribute multiple payroll jobs. Neither series substitutes for the other.

Iowa unemployment rate, 2017–2026 — Percent of civilian labor force; seasonally adjusted 1.56.812.0 2017-012026-08 Iowa unemployment rate, 2017–2026 — Percent of civilian labor force; seasonally adjusted 1.56.812.0 2017-012026-08

Scroll within the monthly table to read earlier observations; on narrow screens, scroll sideways for every column.

Monthly unemployment and payroll table
BLS state series · seasonally adjusted · payroll levels in thousands of jobs
MonthUnemployment, %Payroll jobs, thousandsUnemployment status
August 20263.21,585.8Preliminary
July 20263.21,583.4Published
June 20263.21,586.2Published
May 20263.21,583.5Published
April 20263.31,581.1Published
March 20263.31,576.9Published
February 20263.41,576.3Published
January 20263.41,580.8Published
December 20253.41,578.0Published
November 20253.41,581.6Published
October 2025Not published1,579.2Not published
September 20253.41,583.4Published
August 20253.51,585.1Published
July 20253.51,584.9Published
June 20253.51,593.6Published
May 20253.61,596.1Published
April 20253.61,595.4Published
March 20253.61,596.5Published
February 20253.51,595.6Published
January 20253.51,599.7Published
December 20243.51,594.7Published
November 20243.51,595.3Published
October 20243.41,595.3Published
September 20243.41,596.3Published
August 20243.31,600.5Published
July 20243.21,598.4Published
June 20243.11,600.3Published
May 20243.01,604.2Published
April 20242.91,603.6Published
March 20242.81,604.4Published
February 20242.81,603.4Published
January 20242.81,589.4Published
December 20232.91,600.9Published
November 20232.91,598.4Published
October 20233.01,599.6Published
September 20233.01,596.9Published
August 20233.01,595.5Published
July 20233.01,593.5Published
June 20233.01,594.3Published
May 20232.91,589.7Published
April 20232.91,591.5Published
March 20232.91,586.7Published
February 20233.01,587.4Published
January 20233.01,584.5Published
December 20223.11,582.2Published
November 20223.11,582.7Published
October 20223.11,581.0Published
September 20223.11,580.0Published
August 20223.01,575.0Published
July 20222.81,574.0Published
June 20222.71,572.5Published
May 20222.61,567.3Published
April 20222.61,567.1Published
March 20222.61,566.2Published
February 20222.71,566.4Published
January 20222.81,556.1Published
December 20212.91,556.6Published
November 20213.11,549.6Published
October 20213.31,551.4Published
September 20213.61,544.3Published
August 20213.91,546.9Published
July 20214.11,546.4Published
June 20214.31,536.1Published
May 20214.41,531.4Published
April 20214.41,531.1Published
March 20214.31,528.3Published
February 20214.21,520.8Published
January 20214.11,525.6Published
December 20204.21,518.7Published
November 20204.21,513.1Published
October 20204.21,515.0Published
September 20204.61,507.1Published
August 20205.01,496.0Published
July 20206.01,487.2Published
June 20206.81,466.5Published
May 20208.51,425.2Published
April 202011.01,412.6Published
March 20202.71,581.0Published
February 20202.71,588.3Published
January 20202.71,589.1Published
December 20192.71,590.3Published
November 20192.71,587.6Published
October 20192.71,588.5Published
September 20192.71,587.6Published
August 20192.71,588.2Published
July 20192.71,588.1Published
June 20192.71,586.9Published
May 20192.61,587.7Published
April 20192.61,587.0Published
March 20192.61,583.1Published
February 20192.61,583.2Published
January 20192.61,588.3Published
December 20182.61,586.0Published
November 20182.61,586.3Published
October 20182.51,584.0Published
September 20182.51,586.2Published
August 20182.51,584.2Published
July 20182.51,584.7Published
June 20182.51,586.8Published
May 20182.51,586.3Published
April 20182.61,579.0Published
March 20182.71,580.1Published
February 20182.71,580.5Published
January 20182.81,578.3Published
December 20172.91,578.4Published
November 20172.91,575.2Published
October 20173.01,573.9Published
September 20173.01,574.4Published
August 20173.11,572.2Published
July 20173.11,571.7Published
June 20173.11,573.0Published
May 20173.11,569.7Published
April 20173.11,573.8Published
March 20173.21,572.2Published
February 20173.31,571.7Published
January 20173.31,567.9Published

Largest published industries in Iowa

The table orders non-overlapping broad sectors by their 2025 current-dollar GDP in BEA SAGDP2. These shares describe production structure; they do not establish the sectors responsible for the most recent real growth. Suppressed or unavailable cells are omitted rather than reconstructed.

Iowa largest acquired broad industries · 2025 · current dollars
IndustryProducer classificationOutput, $ millionsShare of state GDP
Manufacturing31-3345,661.916.79%
Finance and insurance5242,731.115.71%
Government and government enterprises9228,822.810.60%
Real estate and rental and leasing5323,859.58.77%
Health care and social assistance6216,972.96.24%

Manufacturing is the largest of the acquired broad sectors, at 16.8% of total nominal output. The next sectors are Finance and insurance and Government and government enterprises. The original industry classification and table line remain in the JSON download; no occupational wage or employment estimate is inferred from an output share.

Compare economies of a similar nominal size

The three states nearest Iowa in 2025 nominal GDP are Oklahoma, Nevada, Kansas. These peers are selected by the absolute difference in total GDP, not by neighboring borders, household income, industry similarity or policy. Use the separate rankings to compare other dimensions.

Sources, downloads and geographic coverage

BEA state accounts: SAGDP1, SAINC1 and SARPP. BLS unemployment code: LASST190000000000003; payroll code: SMS19000000000000001. Geography: Iowa, state FIPS 19; BEA area code 19000. Industry output uses the 2017 NAICS classification in SAGDP2. Original codes are text and must retain leading zeroes.

Source-file dates: GDP/income September 30, 2026; prices February 19, 2026; state labor September 18, 2026. Snapshot: regional-2026-09-30-reviewed. Estimates are revisable. This archive preserves the acquired figures and does not reproduce earlier published vintages. County or metro values are not inferred from this state profile.

Download state histories CSV · Dictionary and source checksums · BEA state GDP · BLS local unemployment · Compare regional purchasing power.

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