Marshalltown had the highest unemployment rate among Iowa’s cities in December, with 8.8% of the community’s workforce unemployed, data from Iowa Workforce Development shows.

According to the data, 1,200 people in Marshalltown’s workforce of 13,900 were unemployed in December. Among Iowa’s cities, Marshalltown had the highest unemployment rate in 10 of the 11 months data was released in 2025. (Jobless data for October was not released because of the federal government shutdown.)

Statewide, 3.5% of Iowa’s workforce was unemployed in December, data shows. The state agency recently released city and county-level data.

The Business Record has created an interactive map that shows December’s unemployment rates by city or statistical area. The size of cities’ labor forces and the number of people who are unemployed is among the data included in the map.

An Excel workbook includes spreadsheets of city and county level unemployment data for the 11 months of 2025 that data was released. 

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Helpful icons for interactive map

Click on the icon on the upper left corner of the map to open the key. Click on the icon in the upper right corner to view the map in a separate tab.

Questions? Email Business Record reporter Kathy Bolten at kathybolten@bpcdm.com.