?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Franchise expansion · Iowa

Best cities to expand a franchise in Iowa

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Franchise expansion” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on businesses per 1k residents, median household income, avg. weekly wage, crime index. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

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Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Marshalltown, IA28k residents

    77/100

    population: 28k · median household income: $69,068 · crime index: 38/100

  2. 2.Ottumwa, IA25k residents

    76/100

    population: 25k · median household income: $61,103 · crime index: 38/100

  3. 3.Cedar Falls, IA41k residents

    66/100

    population: 41k · median household income: $76,987 · crime index: 38/100

  4. 4.Waukee, IA29k residents

    65/100

    population: 29k · median household income: $101,029 · crime index: 38/100

  5. 5.Sioux City, IA86k residents

    63/100

    population: 86k · median household income: $68,906 · crime index: 38/100

  6. 6.Council Bluffs, IA63k residents

    63/100

    population: 63k · median household income: $64,578 · crime index: 38/100

  7. 7.Ames, IA68k residents

    61/100

    population: 68k · median household income: $60,991 · crime index: 38/100

  8. 8.Bettendorf, IA40k residents

    61/100

    population: 40k · median household income: $100,495 · crime index: 38/100

  9. 9.Waterloo, IA67k residents

    59/100

    population: 67k · median household income: $57,480 · crime index: 38/100

  10. 10.Dubuque, IA59k residents

    54/100

    population: 59k · median household income: $65,845 · crime index: 38/100

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is best to expand a franchise in Iowa?
Marshalltown, IA ranks first with a fit score of 77/100, followed by Ottumwa (76) and Cedar Falls (66), using the "Franchise expansion" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on businesses per 1k residents, median household income, avg. weekly wage, crime index, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.