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Ranked · Sun & walkable · Iowa

Best sunny, walkable cities in Iowa

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Sun & walkable” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on sunny days / year, walkability, crime index, january low. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

Re-rank for your priorities
Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Des Moines, IA212k residents

    65/100

    sunny days / year: 204 days · walkability: 45/100 · january low: 14°F

  2. 2.Cedar Rapids, IA137k residents

    53/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 38/100 · january low: 13°F

  3. 3.Davenport, IA101k residents

    53/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 38/100 · january low: 13°F

  4. 4.Council Bluffs, IA63k residents

    49/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 34/100 · january low: 15°F

  5. 5.Waterloo, IA67k residents

    48/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 34/100 · january low: 11°F

  6. 6.Ottumwa, IA25k residents

    47/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 30/100 · january low: 14°F

  7. 7.Iowa City, IA76k residents

    44/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 34/100 · january low: 15°F

  8. 8.Dubuque, IA59k residents

    43/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 34/100 · january low: 10°F

  9. 9.Marion, IA42k residents

    42/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 30/100 · january low: 13°F

  10. 10.Sioux City, IA86k residents

    41/100

    sunny days / year: 200 days · walkability: 34/100 · january low: 9°F

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 the sunniest and most walkable in Iowa?
Des Moines, IA ranks first with a fit score of 65/100, followed by Cedar Rapids (53) and Davenport (53), using the "Sun & walkable" 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 sunny days / year, walkability, crime index, january low, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.