What is the Munimetric score for Iowa?

Munimetric assigns a state-level average MISI score based on the individual scores of all covered community water systems in Iowa. The state average, band distribution, and market-level rankings are shown on this page. Higher MISI values indicate greater structural stress.

Which water systems in Iowa face the most infrastructure stress?

The state page ranks the highest-stress systems in Iowa by MISI score. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk, not a single compliance event. The headline remains a blended structural stress composite rather than a pure physical-condition index. Workflow actions remain reserved for account access.

How does Iowa compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?

Iowa is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. Munimetric tracks nationwide coverage across 9,000+ scored service markets.

Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Iowa water systems?

Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family score. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.

Does Munimetric include PFAS monitoring context for Iowa water systems?

Munimetric summarizes stored PFAS monitoring context where public contaminant-monitoring records are available. Missing PFAS summaries remain missing records, not non-detections, and this public-record layer does not change the MISI score by itself.

What compliance signals are active in Iowa?

Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, population decline, income erosion, data staleness, and parent-government fiscal stress across Iowa water systems.

Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Iowa?

Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions that provide context around system reliability over time.

How many covered systems in Iowa have recent recorded drinking-water violations?

Stored public records show 19 covered systems with recent drinking-water violations, with 81 recorded violations across 131 covered systems in the recent 3 years window.

How does Munimetric summarize PFAS public-record context in Iowa?

Stored contaminant-monitoring summaries are present for 130 covered systems; 108 systems have PFAS detection context in this state summary.

How does Munimetric summarize lead & copper context in Iowa?

Stored lead & copper summaries are present for 130 covered systems; 61 systems have violation or action-level context in this state summary.

What source-water types are represented across covered Iowa systems?

Stored identity records group covered Iowa systems by source-water type: Surface water: 42, Groundwater: 89.

Where can I find official drinking-water records for Iowa?

The Official records drawer lists Public drinking-water profile, Contaminant monitoring records links where currently available for Iowa.

Is this a real-time statewide tap-water condition rating?

No. This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. Munimetric summarizes stored public-record context for research and navigation, and this layer does not change MISI.

States / Iowa

Iowa

Name: Iowa Drinking Water Infrastructure Stress Data
Creator: Munimetric
License: https://munimetric.com/terms

Statewide Munimetric profile for Iowa, covering drinking-water market scores, signal activity, infrastructure stress context, and population insights across 131 scored service markets serving approximately 2.4 million people. This state profile highlights what is happening and why it matters using water-system, fiscal, capital, and signal context.

Iowa has an average MISI infrastructure stress score of 23.1/100 in the Watch band as of 2026-08-24. Public records summarize recent drinking-water violations, PFAS monitoring records, lead and copper context, and source-water mix across 131 covered systems. This state view connects city and system-level utility stress context to scored community drinking-water systems. Updated May 2026.

National context

States sized by scored-market count. Color reflects average stress band.

131Markets scored

23.1Headline composite

~2.4MPop. served

550Active signals

Band distribution (MISI)

State headline composite

Component of current headline composite

Infrastructure Stress18.0 / 100

Physical, compliance, and capital-execution pressure reflected in the blended headline composite.

Socioeconomic Stress4.2 / 100

Affordability, demand-base, and parent-government fiscal pressure reflected in the blended headline composite.

Observability Stress0.9 / 100

Staleness, disclosure freshness, and reporting-visibility effects reflected in the blended headline composite.

23.1 headline compositeIowa state composite131 markets~2.4M people served

State interpretation guide

How to read Iowa headline composite

Plain-language summary

Iowa currently shows an average MISI headline composite of 23.1 versus a national average of 24.4. In v0.1.2, the headline composite remains a blended structural stress measure rather than a pure physical-condition index. A frozen national reference and a 50 percent single-factor cap reduce the dominance of near-universal and very rare factors, while the component bars continue to separate infrastructure, socioeconomic, and observability readings.

Why this page stands out

131 scored systems are included in this state view, with explicit confidence and source-backed context.
State posture is benchmarked against national averages, not evaluated in isolation.
Top system links below connect state-level findings directly to profile-level diagnostics.

What to do next

Review the executive context to understand the state-level pressure pattern.
Open top system profiles to inspect what is actually driving stress at market level.
Use saved monitoring after research access is enabled to follow high-stress systems over time.

Priority Iowa paths

Public record layer

Statewide Water Quality Context

Stored public-record context for recent drinking-water violations, contaminant monitoring, and source-water mix across covered systems. This is not a tap-water safety determination and does not change the MISI score.

Systems with recent violations

19 of 131Systems with recent public violation rows.

Source-water mix131 systems

Surface water42
Groundwater89
Purchased water0
Mixed source0
Not stored0

Latest identity snapshot: Jun 30, 2026

Coverage

Violation, enforcement, and compliance-burden counts use the recent 3 years window for dated stored records.
Drinking-water identity snapshots are stored for 130 of 131 included scored systems.
PFAS monitoring summary records are stored for 130 of 131 included systems; missing records are not treated as non-detections.
Lead and copper summary records are stored for 130 of 131 included systems; missing records are not treated as absence of lead/copper context.

Water quality questionsDefinitions and public-record context

How many covered systems in Iowa have recent recorded drinking-water violations?: Stored public records show 19 covered systems with recent drinking-water violations, with 81 recorded violations across 131 covered systems in the recent 3 years window.
How does Munimetric summarize PFAS public-record context in Iowa?: Stored contaminant-monitoring summaries are present for 130 covered systems; 108 systems have PFAS detection context in this state summary.
How does Munimetric summarize lead & copper context in Iowa?: Stored lead & copper summaries are present for 130 covered systems; 61 systems have violation or action-level context in this state summary.
What source-water types are represented across covered Iowa systems?: Stored identity records group covered Iowa systems by source-water type: Surface water: 42, Groundwater: 89.
Where can I find official drinking-water records for Iowa?: The Official records drawer lists Public drinking-water profile, Contaminant monitoring records links where currently available for Iowa.
Is this a real-time statewide tap-water condition rating?: No. This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. Munimetric summarizes stored public-record context for research and navigation, and this layer does not change MISI.

Official records

Public drinking-water profileEPA ECHO: Federal drinking-water dashboard and public-record search entry point.
Contaminant monitoring recordsEPA UCMR: Federal contaminant-monitoring program reference and public data entry point.

Methodology/source notes

Methodology/source notesDisplayed from stored public drinking-water records and official program references. This layer does not change MISI.
Enforcement historyEPA ECHO / SDWIS: Violation and enforcement counts are aggregated from stored public compliance records across covered systems.
Contaminant monitoring recordsEPA UCMR: PFAS context uses stored contaminant-monitoring summaries where available; missing records are not treated as non-detections.
State drinking-water programOfficial link not currently stored for this state program mapping.

Top recent compliance-burden systemsRecent 3 years

System	Population	Source water	Recent violations	Recent enforcement	Public-record flags
Grinnell Water DepartmentIA7930008	9,564	Groundwater	32	122	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records
Osceola Water WorksIA2038038	5,503	Surface water	6	16	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
Red Oak Water SupplyIA6950075	5,596	Groundwater	4	46	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records
Sioux City Water SupplyIA9778054	85,791	Surface water	4	16	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
Rock Valley Water SupplyIA8482096	4,059	Groundwater	4	16	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
Ottumwa Water WorksIA9083012	25,529	Surface water	4	16	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records
Oskaloosa Municipal Water DeptIA6273005	12,808	Surface water	4	14	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
Marion Co. Rural Water DistrictIA6342711	5,687	Groundwater	4	12	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records

This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. For current advisories or health guidance, consult the utility or state drinking-water program.

Executive context

What This Page Shows

131 of the community drinking-water systems in Iowa are currently scored. Analytics below are calculated from this covered subset only. Covered systems serve approximately 2.4M people.

What the Data Suggests

Iowa has 131 scored service markets in the Munimetric coverage set, covering roughly 2.4 million residents in total. At the latest reading, the state-level average lands at 23.1 out of 100, indicating early but meaningful signs of structural stress in aggregate. A relatively small share — roughly 5% — currently sit in elevated-stress bands.

Across state markets, Capex Pressure stands out as the dominant contributor to headline stress (12.9 points average), with Operational Stress a distant second at 5.1. That pattern suggests a particular kind of pressure — concentrated rather than broadly distributed.

550 active signals are recorded across state markets. The most prevalent is PFAS Contamination Risk, affecting 108 markets.

State-level average stress has been relatively steady between recent observation periods, suggesting the current picture reflects persistent conditions rather than a sudden shift.

This summary is based on structured, source-backed public data and is intended for research and monitoring only. It is not investment advice, a credit opinion, or municipal advisory guidance.

Recent Movement

Latest average MISI is 23.1 as of Aug 24, 2026. Movement since Aug 23, 2026 is flat.

Compact summary from 100 stored state observations.

State Family Contribution Summary

Capex Pressure12.9 / 20.0

Operational Stress5.1 / 20.0

Revenue Fragility3.5 / 20.0

Governance Risk1.5 / 20.0

Rate Constraint0.1 / 20.0

Signals

Signal Frequency

Signal	Severity	Markets affected	% of scored
PFAS Contamination Risk	high	108	82%
High-AGI Out-Migration	high	92	70%
Climate Hazard Exposure	high	72	55%
Infrastructure Capital Gap	high	65	50%
Lead & Copper Rule Risk	high	61	47%
Compliance Escalation	high	44	34%
Current Drought Severity	medium	25	19%
Utility Data Staleness	high	22	17%
Parent-Government Fiscal Stress	high	22	17%
Population Served Decline	high	20	15%
Housing Market Weakness	medium	11	8%
Monitoring / Reporting Failures	medium	6	5%
Income Erosion	medium	2	2%

Markets

Top Markets

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Des Moines Water Works	42.8	Fragile	246K	7
2	Johnston Municipal Water Supply	42.8	Fragile	25K	7
3	Urbandale Water Utility	42.6	Fragile	46K	7
4	Ottumwa Water Works	41.9	Fragile	26K	6
5	Fairfield Water Supply	40.6	Fragile	10K	7
6	Fort Dodge Water Supply	40.5	Fragile	26K	6
7	Ames Water Treatment Plant	40.4	Fragile	55K	7
8	Bondurant Muni Water Supply	38.8	Watch	9K	6
9	University Water System	38.6	Watch	27K	7
10	Altoona Water Supply	38.2	Watch	20K	6
11	Sioux City Water Supply	37.3	Watch	86K	7
12	Ankeny, City of	37.1	Watch	76K	6
13	Central Ia Water Assn (waverly)	37.0	Watch	38K	7
14	Polk City Water Supply	36.8	Watch	7K	6
15	Cedar Rapids Water Department	36.7	Watch	142K	5
16	Boone Water Works	35.9	Watch	13K	5
17	Rathbun Regional Water Assn (rathbun)	35.5	Watch	33K	6
18	Eagle Grove Water Supply	35.0	Watch	4K	6
19	Grinnell Water Department	34.8	Watch	10K	6
20	Rock Valley Water Supply	33.6	Watch	4K	6

Comparison

State Comparison

National average: 24.4

Rank	State	Avg Score	Band	Markets	Delta vs State
30	Maryland	23.4	Watch	78	+0.3
31	North Carolina	23.4	Watch	276	+0.3
32	Iowa	23.1	Watch	131	+0.0
33	Idaho	22.7	Watch	51	-0.4
34	Nevada	22.6	Watch	44	-0.5

Analytical posture

State Stress Analytics

Score Distribution

Distribution of scored market scores with the state average overlay.

131 markets plotted.

Stress vs Population

Each point is a scored market; tooltip reveals market-level context.

131 markets plotted.

Population View

People served by community water systems in Iowa, colored by stress band.

~2.4M people served by 131 systems in Iowa

Stable

Watch

Fragile

High Stress

Critical

131 scored systems · colored by stress band

Peer Constellation

Select a market to see its nearest peers by score similarity.

Center market:

24 nearest peers by score distance.

Score Trend

Latest

23.1

Trend

+16.8

Observations

100

Extended layers

Advanced State Context

Priority views, detailed registers, and methodology supporting the analytical core above.

Markets & signals

Priority Views

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Des Moines Water Works	42.8	Fragile	246K	7
2	Johnston Municipal Water Supply	42.8	Fragile	25K	7
3	Urbandale Water Utility	42.6	Fragile	46K	7
4	Ottumwa Water Works	41.9	Fragile	26K	6
5	Fairfield Water Supply	40.6	Fragile	10K	7
6	Fort Dodge Water Supply	40.5	Fragile	26K	6
7	Ames Water Treatment Plant	40.4	Fragile	55K	7
8	Bondurant Muni Water Supply	38.8	Watch	9K	6
9	University Water System	38.6	Watch	27K	7
10	Altoona Water Supply	38.2	Watch	20K	6
11	Sioux City Water Supply	37.3	Watch	86K	7
12	Ankeny, City of	37.1	Watch	76K	6
13	Central Ia Water Assn (waverly)	37.0	Watch	38K	7
14	Polk City Water Supply	36.8	Watch	7K	6
15	Cedar Rapids Water Department	36.7	Watch	142K	5
16	Boone Water Works	35.9	Watch	13K	5
17	Rathbun Regional Water Assn (rathbun)	35.5	Watch	33K	6
18	Eagle Grove Water Supply	35.0	Watch	4K	6
19	Grinnell Water Department	34.8	Watch	10K	6
20	Rock Valley Water Supply	33.6	Watch	4K	6

Detailed records

Registers

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Des Moines Water Works	42.8	Fragile	246K	7
2	Johnston Municipal Water Supply	42.8	Fragile	25K	7
3	Urbandale Water Utility	42.6	Fragile	46K	7
4	Ottumwa Water Works	41.9	Fragile	26K	6
5	Fairfield Water Supply	40.6	Fragile	10K	7
6	Fort Dodge Water Supply	40.5	Fragile	26K	6
7	Ames Water Treatment Plant	40.4	Fragile	55K	7
8	Bondurant Muni Water Supply	38.8	Watch	9K	6
9	University Water System	38.6	Watch	27K	7
10	Altoona Water Supply	38.2	Watch	20K	6
11	Sioux City Water Supply	37.3	Watch	86K	7
12	Ankeny, City of	37.1	Watch	76K	6
13	Central Ia Water Assn (waverly)	37.0	Watch	38K	7
14	Polk City Water Supply	36.8	Watch	7K	6
15	Cedar Rapids Water Department	36.7	Watch	142K	5
16	Boone Water Works	35.9	Watch	13K	5
17	Rathbun Regional Water Assn (rathbun)	35.5	Watch	33K	6
18	Eagle Grove Water Supply	35.0	Watch	4K	6
19	Grinnell Water Department	34.8	Watch	10K	6
20	Rock Valley Water Supply	33.6	Watch	4K	6

Munimetric tracks infrastructure stress across 131 community drinking-water systems in Iowa, covering compliance conditions, capital needs, revenue and rate pressure, and governance risk. Use this page to research which systems face the highest structural stress and how Iowa compares nationally.

Which water systems in Iowa face the most infrastructure stress?: The highest-stress systems in Iowa are ranked by MISI score above. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk—not a single compliance event. In v0.1.2, the headline composite remains a blended structural stress measure rather than a pure physical-condition index. A frozen national reference and a 50 percent single-factor cap reduce the dominance of near-universal and very rare factors, while the component bars continue to separate infrastructure, socioeconomic, and observability readings.
How does Iowa compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?: Iowa is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. The state comparison table above shows where Iowa ranks nationally and how its average score compares.
Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Iowa water systems?: Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.
What compliance signals are active in Iowa?: Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, data staleness, and financial stress indicators across Iowa systems. The signal frequency table above summarizes which signals are most prevalent statewide.
Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Iowa?: Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions—compliance posture, infrastructure stress, and governance risk—that provide broader context around system reliability.

Keep monitoring this state

Research access covers saved monitoring, alerts, recurring briefs, and team review.

Get the Water Stress Brief Request research access

Water Infrastructure in Iowa

Munimetric tracks infrastructure stress across 131 community drinking-water systems in Iowa. Each system receives a Munimetric Infrastructure Stress Index (MISI) score from 0 to 100, calculated across five risk families: Operational Stress, Capex Pressure, Revenue Fragility, Rate Constraint, and Governance Risk. Higher scores indicate more structural stress. Scores are source-backed and deterministic, drawing from EPA SDWA compliance records, American Community Survey demographic and economic data, FEMA National Risk Index hazard profiles, and state financial disclosures.

State-level monitoring shows which systems face the highest structural stress, how Iowa compares against other states nationally, and which monitoring signals are most active across the state. Each individual system profile includes compliance history, score family drivers, peer rankings within population-based cohorts where safeguards pass, and public source context. Full provenance cards and source workbench views remain workflow-gated. Munimetric covers community water systems across all 50 states and territories. This is structural risk research—not a water quality rating, advisory feed, or credit rating. Updated May 2026.

The statewide public-record layer adds drinking-water violation categories, PFAS monitoring summaries where stored, lead and copper context, source-water mix, and official record links across covered systems. These records help explain water-system context alongside infrastructure stress without turning Munimetric into a tap-water safety determination.

What is the Munimetric score for Iowa?: Munimetric assigns a state-level average MISI score based on the individual scores of all covered community water systems in Iowa. The state average, band distribution, and market-level rankings are shown on this page. Higher MISI values indicate greater structural stress.
Which water systems in Iowa face the most infrastructure stress?: The state page ranks the highest-stress systems in Iowa by MISI score. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk, not a single compliance event. The headline remains a blended structural stress composite rather than a pure physical-condition index. Workflow actions remain reserved for account access.
How does Iowa compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?: Iowa is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. Munimetric tracks nationwide coverage across 9,000+ scored service markets.
Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Iowa water systems?: Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family score. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.
Does Munimetric include PFAS monitoring context for Iowa water systems?: Munimetric summarizes stored PFAS monitoring context where public contaminant-monitoring records are available. Missing PFAS summaries remain missing records, not non-detections, and this public-record layer does not change the MISI score by itself.
What compliance signals are active in Iowa?: Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, population decline, income erosion, data staleness, and parent-government fiscal stress across Iowa water systems.
Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Iowa?: Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions that provide context around system reliability over time.