Des Moines Crime Map
Iowa · September 2026 · updated 2026-11-12
| September 2026 | 1,870 incidents |
|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | 17,502 incidents through September |
| 2025 (full year) | 24,163 incidents |
| Full archive | 94,166 incidents (2023–2026) |
| Per 100K / year | 11,339 |
Source: Des Moines Police Department open data.
About crime in Des Moines
Latest available snapshot. Des Moines has 1,870 incidents for September 2026. Counts reflect the source coverage published for this city.
Year-over-year context
Des Moines recorded 25,128 incidents in 2024 and 24,163 in 2025, a 3.8% decrease. Year-to-year comparisons depend on consistent source coverage and reporting definitions.
2025 category breakdown
| Other | 14,265 |
| Theft | 2,813 |
| Assault | 2,556 |
| Vandalism | 1,414 |
| Theft from vehicle | 1,046 |
| Fraud | 1,001 |
| Burglary | 704 |
| Auto theft | 273 |
Across 2023–2026, the current archive contains 94,166 incidents for Des Moines. Missing categories or periods reflect what the source publishes; missing is not zero.
Des Moines crime overview
Essay updated 2026-11-12 · figures above are from the latest data
TL;DR. Des Moines police reported 24,163 incidents in 2025, down 3.8% from 25,128 in 2024. Other was the most common category with 14,265 reports, followed by Theft with 2,813 and Assault with 2,556. The 2025 rate was 11,339 reported incidents per 100,000 residents based on the U.S. Census 2024 population estimate. January–September 2026 totaled 17,502 incidents, down 6.4% from the same months in 2025.
About this data
TheCrimeMaps crime map for Des Moines, Iowa plots police-reported incidents published by the Des Moines Police Department. The headline total for 2025 is 24,163 police-reported incidents in calendar year 2025, covering 12 months of data. Violent-category incidents, defined as assault plus sexual assault plus robbery plus shooting plus homicide in 2025, totaled 2,647, or 11% of the 2025 total. Data in the archive extends through October 2026.
Based on the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimate of 213,096 for the city, that equals 11,339 reported incidents per 100,000 residents in 2025, and 1,242.2 violent-category incidents per 100,000 residents. The rate describes the volume of police-reported incidents, not a measure of personal risk. The archive holds 94,166 incidents across 2023 to 2026 combined.
Recent trend
Des Moines recorded 26,353 incidents in 2023, 25,128 in 2024 and 24,163 in 2025, all complete calendar years. The change from 2024 to 2025 was a decline of 3.8%, based on two consecutive complete calendar years. For the same months comparison, January–September 2026 totaled 17,502 incidents compared with 18,691 in January–September 2025, a decline of 6.4%. The 2026 full-year count of 18,522 covers 10 months and is partial, so it is not compared with full-year totals. Together the complete-year figures show lower totals in each successive year.
Category breakdown
In 2025, Other was the largest grouping with 14,265 incidents, or 59% of the total. Within Other, Other crime accounted for 12,377 incidents, or 51.2% of the total, followed by Threats with 1,182 incidents, or 4.9%, Drugs with 273 incidents, or 1.1%, Impaired & dangerous driving with 254 incidents, or 1.1%, and Weapons offenses with 179 incidents, or 0.7%. Theft ranked second with 2,813 incidents, or 11.6%, and Assault ranked third with 2,556 incidents, or 10.6%. Vandalism added 1,414 incidents, or 5.9%, while Theft from vehicle contributed 1,046 incidents, or 4.3%, and Fraud contributed 1,001 incidents, or 4.1%. All shares are shares of the 2025 total of 24,163 incidents.
What this means
What stands out in Des Moines is concentration in a few groupings in 2025: from a total of 24,163 incidents, Other accounted for 14,265 incidents, or 59%, Theft accounted for 2,813 incidents, or 11.6%, and Assault accounted for 2,556 incidents, or 10.6%. Vandalism at 1,414 incidents, or 5.9%, plus Theft from vehicle at 1,046 incidents, or 4.3%, and Fraud at 1,001 incidents, or 4.1%, complete the leading list. Complete-year totals moved from 26,353 in 2023 to 25,128 in 2024 to 24,163 in 2025.
FAQ
How many crimes were reported in Des Moines in 2025?
Des Moines had 24,163 police-reported incidents in calendar year 2025, which covers 12 months of data. That equals 11,339 reported incidents per 100,000 residents, based on the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimate of 213,096. Violent-category incidents totaled 2,647, or 11% of the total. The all-years archive from 2023 to 2026 contains 94,166 incidents.
What type of crime was most reported in Des Moines in 2025?
Other was the largest category in 2025 with 14,265 incidents, or 59% of the 24,163 total. Within Other, other crime accounted for 12,377 incidents, followed by threats with 1,182 incidents. The next specific categories were theft with 2,813 incidents and assault with 2,556 incidents. The source groups many incident types under Other.
Has reported crime in Des Moines gone up or down recently?
Reported incidents fell 3.8% between the two complete years, from 25,128 in 2024 to 24,163 in 2025. The longer series also declined from 26,353 in 2023. For the current window, January–September 2026 had 17,502 incidents versus 18,691 in the same months of 2025, down 6.4%. The 2026 full-year count of 18,522 covers only 10 months, so it cannot be compared as an annual total.
Is crime spread evenly across Des Moines neighborhoods?
This summary reports a citywide total of 24,163 incidents for Des Moines in 2025, without ranking named neighborhoods for that year. Citywide shares include 11.6% for theft with 2,813 incidents and 5.9% for vandalism with 1,414 incidents. Neighborhood-level comparisons would need separate address or boundary data, so use the citywide 2025 figures when comparing years.
Where does TheCrimeMaps get Des Moines crime numbers?
The Des Moines figures come from the Des Moines Police Department open-data source cited for this page. The 2025 release includes 24,163 police-reported incidents, including 2,813 thefts and 2,556 assaults. The 2024 file included 25,128 incidents and the 2023 file included 26,353 incidents. TheCrimeMaps republishes those police-reported counts without adding estimates.
How current is the Des Moines crime data?
The dataset is current through October 2026. The complete calendar year 2025 has 24,163 incidents, while January–September 2026 has 17,502 incidents compared with 18,691 in the same months of 2025, a 6.4% decrease. The archive year 2026 currently shows 18,522 incidents across 10 months with data, so 2026 remains partial.
Explore Des Moines
By category
- Des Moines Assault (10,101)
- Des Moines Robbery (465)
- Des Moines Homicide (17)
- Des Moines Burglary (3,080)
- Des Moines Auto theft (1,814)
- Des Moines Theft from vehicle (3,695)
- Des Moines Theft (11,299)
- Des Moines Vandalism (5,892)
- Des Moines Fraud (4,045)
- Des Moines Other (53,758)
By year
Neighborhoods
No indexed neighborhood pages for this city.