124 hospitals in Iowa
As of the July 2026 CMS release, Iowa has 124 open hospitals in 107 cities, 118 of them with an emergency department. The median emergency room visit lasts 2 hr, 28 min shorter than the US median of 2 hr 28 min. 28 of the 64 hospitals Medicare rates hold 4 or 5 stars (7 with 5), and the state average is 3.2 stars.
Hospitals
124
in 110 Iowa cities
With an ER
118
95% of hospitals
Iowa has 124 open hospitals across 110 cities. By type: 82 critical access hospitals, 32 acute care hospitals, 4 psychiatric hospitals and 2 VA acute care hospitals (type not recorded for 4).
Iowa's largest hospital cities
Des Moines
5 hospitals · 5 with an ER
- Median ER
- 3 hr 24 min
- Top rated
- VA Central Iowa Healthcare System (4★)
Cedar Rapids
2 hospitals · 2 with an ER
- Median ER
- 2 hr 37 min
- Top rated
- Mercy Medical Center - Cedar Rapids (4★)
Cherokee
2 hospitals · 2 with an ER
- Median ER
- 2 hr 14 min
- Top rated
- Cherokee Regional Medical Center (2★)
Council Bluffs
2 hospitals · 2 with an ER
- Median ER
- 2 hr 40 min
- Top rated
- Alegent Health Mercy Hospital (5★)
Top-rated hospitals and shortest ER visits
Highest Medicare star ratings
- Palmer Lutheran Health CenterWest Union
- Cass County Memorial HospitalAtlantic
- Van Diest Medical CenterWebster City
- Clarke County HospitalOsceola
- Waverly Health CenterWaverly
- Alegent Health Mercy HospitalCouncil Bluffs
- Iowa City VA Medical CenterIowa City
- Compass Memorial HealthcareMarengo
Shortest median ER visits
- Compass Memorial HealthcareMarengo 55 min
- Myrtue Medical CenterHarlan 1 hr 1 min
- Jackson County Regional Health CenterMaquoketa 1 hr 17 min
- Virginia Gay HospitalVinton 1 hr 19 min
- Grundy County Memorial HospitalGrundy Center 1 hr 21 min
- Audubon County Memorial HospitalAudubon 1 hr 24 min
- Palmer Lutheran Health CenterWest Union 1 hr 25 min
- Cass County Memorial HospitalAtlantic 1 hr 26 min
See every Iowa ER ranked by wait · See every Iowa hospital ranked by stars · by patient rating · by infections and safety
All Iowa cities with hospitals
B
- Belmond (1)
- Bettendorf (2)
- Bloomfield (2)
- Boone (1)
- Britt (1)
C
- Carroll (2)
- Cedar Falls (1)
- Cedar Rapids (2)
- Centerville (2)
- Chariton (1)
- Charles City (2)
- Cherokee (2)
- Clarinda (2)
- Clarion (1)
- Clinton (1)
- Clive (1)
- Corning (2)
- Corydon (1)
- Council Bluffs (2)
- Cresco (1)
- Creston (1)
D
- Davenport (2)
- De Witt (1)
- Decorah (1)
- Denison (1)
- Des Moines (7)
- Dubuque (2)
- Dyersville (1)
E
- Elkader (1)
- Emmetsburg (1)
- Estherville (1)
F
- Fairfield (2)
- Fort Dodge (1)
- Fort Madison (1)
G
- Glenwood (1)
- Greenfield (1)
- Grinnell (1)
- Grundy Center (1)
- Guthrie Center (1)
- Guttenberg (2)
I
- Ida Grove (1)
- Independence (2)
- Iowa City (4)
- Iowa Falls (1)
J
- Jefferson (1)
M
- Manchester (1)
- Manning (1)
- Maquoketa (1)
- Marengo (1)
- Marshalltown (1)
- Mason City (1)
- Missouri Valley (1)
- Mt Ayr (2)
- Mt Pleasant (2)
- Muscatine (1)
N
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampton (1)
- Newton (1)
P
- Pella (1)
- Perry (1)
- Pocahontas (2)
- Primghar (1)
R
- Red Oak (1)
- Rock Rapids (1)
- Rock Valley (1)
S
- Sac City (2)
- Sheldon (1)
- Shenandoah (1)
- Sibley (2)
- Sigourney (2)
- Sioux Center (1)
- Sioux City (3)
- Spencer (1)
- Spirit Lake (2)
- Storm Lake (1)
- Sumner (2)
V
- Vinton (2)
W
- Washington (1)
- Waterloo (2)
- Waukon (1)
- Waverly (1)
- Webster City (2)
- West Burlington (1)
- West Union (1)
- Winterset (1)
People and health care in Iowa
From the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2020–2024).
Population
3,210,507
Median age 38.6
Hospitals per 100,000
3.9
124 hospitals listed · #9 of 50 states
No health insurance
5%
below the U.S. 8.4%
Age 65 and over
18.1%
above the U.S. 17.2%
Median household income
$75,059
U.S. $80,734
What nurses earn in Iowa
Questions about hospitals in Iowa
How many hospitals are in Iowa?
There are 124 open hospitals in Iowa across 110 cities. 118 of them have an emergency department.
Which Iowa city has the most hospitals?
Des Moines, with 7 hospitals. Iowa City is next with 4.
How long is the ER wait in Iowa?
The median emergency room visit in Iowa lasts 2 hr, 28 min shorter than the US median of 2 hr 28 min. That is a 12-month median from CMS, not a live wait time.
How many Iowa hospitals have 5 stars?
7 of the 64 Iowa hospitals with a Medicare overall star rating have 5 stars, and 28 have 4 or 5 stars. The average rating is 3.2 out of 5.
Hospitals in neighboring states
Source: hospital listings from CMS and public records; emergency room wait times (measure OP-18b) and overall star ratings from CMS Care Compare. Wait times are 12-month medians, not live. Where these figures come from.
Not affiliated with CMS. For a medical emergency, call 911.