GradeLocal
State guide

Restaurant health inspection grades in Iowa

GradeLocal lists 11,519 Iowa restaurants. Their average score is 86.7, a B. This guide explains who inspects them, what the results mean and how the grades break down.

11,519restaurants listed
86.7 · Baverage score
99counties covered
Oct 5, 2026latest inspection date

See every Iowa grade

Who inspects restaurants in Iowa

Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, plus the local health departments that post to its portal. Violation counts.

Coverage: Statewide, all 99 counties. All sources

What Iowa publishes

The agencies behind our Iowa listings publish violation counts. None of them publish a score out of 100, so every Iowa score on GradeLocal is a GradeLocal score, worked out from the official result.

How GradeLocal grades Iowa restaurants

For violation counts, we count every violation in the latest inspection. None is an A, 1 or 2 is a B, 3 to 5 is a C, and 6 or more is a D. An emergency closure order is also a D.

Results with no score of their own get a set score for each letter: A is 95, B is 85, C is 72 and D is 50.

There are four letters, A to D, with no F. The same rule applies in every state, and the cutoffs are never adjusted for a state, county or city. We always use the latest inspection.

How grades work has the full rules.

Most common official results in our Iowa data, and the letter each became
Official resultLetterListings
0 violationsA5,639
1 violationB2,312
2 violationsB1,476
3 violationsC860
4 violationsC503
5 violationsC306
6 violationsD185
7 violationsD96

How Iowa restaurants grade

The latest grade for each of the 11,519 listings.

A
5,639
49.0% · grade A
B
3,788
32.9% · grade B
C
1,669
14.5% · grade C
D
423
3.7% · grade D

Inspection dates in our Iowa data run from Jan 2, 2024 to Oct 5, 2026. 7,974 of the 11,519 listings (69.2%) were inspected in the 12 months before Oct 16, 2026. A restaurant may have been inspected again since.

Top-rated places in Iowa

Every A-grade place in our Iowa data gets the same GradeLocal score (95), so this list shows the ten most recently inspected A-grade places, one per name.

  1. A
    117 West Des Moines Marriott Hotel/J.C. Craft & Co.West Des MoinesGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  2. A
    123 Ac MarriottCedar RapidsGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  3. A
    7 BrewDubuqueGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  4. A
    All Pho YouDes MoinesGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  5. A
    Back Alley BBQSpirit LakeGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  6. A
    Carne Seca de la SierraDes MoinesGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  7. A
    Cocina Express LLCWindsor HeightsGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  8. A
    Early BirdWest Des MoinesGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  9. A
    Hinegardner OrchardMontourGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026
  10. A
    Junction CafeBedfordGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 5, 2026

A grade shows one inspection on one day. Check the official record linked on each page.

Counties in Iowa

Every county with at least one listing. Pick one to see its restaurants.

CountyRestaurantsAverage
Adair County3393.5 · A
Adams County1689.8 · B
Allamakee County8284.7 · B
Appanoose County8887.7 · B
Audubon County2691.6 · A
Benton County9591.4 · A
Black Hawk County40587.2 · B
Boone County9285.3 · B
Bremer County7585.3 · B
Buchanan County7686.3 · B
Buena Vista County10887.6 · B
Butler County4888.8 · B
Calhoun County3588.7 · B
Carroll County11989.2 · B
Cass County6892.9 · A
Cedar County7384.6 · B
Cerro Gordo County29091.2 · A
Cherokee County6585.9 · B
Chickasaw County5986.8 · B
Clarke County4683.4 · B
Clay County8789.6 · B
Clayton County12986.1 · B
Clinton County20084.8 · B
Crawford County7788.1 · B
Dallas County30886.7 · B
Davis County5191.7 · A
Decatur County3483.0 · B
Delaware County8283.8 · B
Des Moines County18691.2 · A
Dickinson County21289.5 · B
Dubuque County41688.1 · B
Emmet County5890.1 · A
Fayette County8586.9 · B
Floyd County6888.5 · B
Franklin County4087.0 · B
Fremont County3388.8 · B
Greene County4485.5 · B
Grundy County5686.1 · B
Guthrie County5891.6 · A
Hamilton County7584.8 · B
Hancock County4290.6 · A
Hardin County10389.0 · B
Harrison County6487.9 · B
Henry County9189.7 · B
Howard County6088.4 · B
Humboldt County4988.6 · B
Ida County4090.1 · A
Iowa County9986.5 · B
Jackson County9586.0 · B
Jasper County14586.1 · B
Jefferson County8181.9 · B
Johnson County76386.6 · B
Jones County8284.3 · B
Keokuk County4184.1 · B
Kossuth County6285.4 · B
Lee County15089.0 · B
Linn County40285.6 · B
Louisa County5585.0 · B
Lucas County4182.8 · B
Lyon County6887.4 · B
Madison County6889.3 · B
Mahaska County8387.1 · B
Marion County15484.5 · B
Marshall County15483.7 · B
Mills County4288.9 · B
Mitchell County4686.2 · B
Monona County4888.7 · B
Monroe County3684.1 · B
Montgomery County4989.3 · B
Muscatine County16884.4 · B
O'Brien County8487.0 · B
Osceola County3785.6 · B
Page County6086.4 · B
Palo Alto County6688.7 · B
Plymouth County15187.3 · B
Pocahontas County3089.9 · B
Polk County42987.6 · B
Pottawattamie County35889.0 · B
Poweshiek County8882.1 · B
Ringgold County2384.0 · B
Sac County5688.8 · B
Scott County43979.4 · C
Shelby County5288.9 · B
Sioux County20486.1 · B
Story County37687.0 · B
Tama County7185.9 · B
Taylor County2789.7 · B
Union County5088.5 · B
Van Buren County3590.5 · A
Wapello County16481.9 · B
Warren County16084.1 · B
Washington County11889.8 · B
Wayne County3084.3 · B
Webster County16487.1 · B
Winnebago County5187.1 · B
Winneshiek County9886.6 · B
Woodbury County42384.4 · B
Worth County3987.8 · B
Wright County5785.8 · B

Questions about Iowa grades

Who inspects restaurants in Iowa?

Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, plus the local health departments that post to its portal. Violation counts.

What does Iowa publish: a score, a letter or something else?

The agencies behind our Iowa listings publish violation counts. None of them publish a score out of 100, so every Iowa score on GradeLocal is a GradeLocal score, worked out from the official result.

How does GradeLocal grade restaurants in Iowa?

For violation counts, we count every violation in the latest inspection. None is an A, 1 or 2 is a B, 3 to 5 is a C, and 6 or more is a D. An emergency closure order is also a D. Results with no score of their own get a set score for each letter: A is 95, B is 85, C is 72 and D is 50. We always use the latest inspection.

How many Iowa restaurants are on GradeLocal?

11,519 restaurants in 99 counties. The average score is 86.7, a B. 49.0% have an A.

How current are the Iowa grades?

Inspection dates in our Iowa data run from Jan 2, 2024 to Oct 5, 2026. We update each state’s records regularly, but there is always a delay, and a restaurant may have been inspected again since. For the latest official report, follow the agency link on each restaurant’s page.

Neighboring states

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