Iowa Business by the Numbers: 2026 Company Breakdown

Key findings

• Iowa ranks 32nd nationally with 453,687 companies — 0.7% of all 64,799,929 U.S. companies in the directory.
• Des Moines is the state’s largest business hub, with 37,865 companies — 8.3% of every company in Iowa.
• Business is concentrated in a few metros: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and West Des Moines together hold 16.1% of the state’s companies.
• Industrial & mechanical leads the state’s industries at 117,021 companies (25.8%), across 8 tracked sectors.

How Iowa ranks nationally

Iowa and its closest neighbours by total company count. Select a state to open its own study.

Top Iowa cities by number of companies

These 10 cities account for 30.5% of all companies in Iowa. Select any city to browse its full company list.

Browse all Iowa companies →

Iowa companies by industry

Every company is classified by its primary industry using NAICS/SIC codes. Select a sector to see those Iowa companies.

What the numbers show

Iowa’s 453,687 companies place it 32nd nationally, 0.7% of the U.S. total. Activity clusters in its largest metros — Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and West Des Moines alone account for 16.1% of the state’s companies — while industrial & mechanical is the dominant sector at 25.8%. For buyers and sellers, that means the deepest pools of suppliers and manufacturers sit in a handful of cities and one or two sectors; the charts above link straight into each so you can shortlist by capability and region.

Methodology

Figures reflect companies listed in Factur’s U.S. business directory as of 2026, classified by headquarters city and primary industry using NAICS/SIC codes. “Companies” includes manufacturers, suppliers, and B2B businesses of all sizes; counts are directory totals, not official census figures, and percentages are computed against the Iowa directory total. Data compiled by Factur, a sales and marketing firm for B2B manufacturers.