Iowa
What are the best companies in Iowa? See which 30 made Forbes 2024 ‘Best Employers’ list.
Principal Financial Group, Ankeny Community School District among top employers
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Each year, Forbes releases its “America’s Best Employers By State,” list which includes nearly 1,300 companies nationwide.
Thirty employers in Iowa were featured on this year’s list, with 14 companies headquartered in the state and seven based in the Des Moines metro area. The companies that made the list fall into a range of industries, including education, health care social services, and government.
To create the list, Forbes worked with data company Statista to survey more than 160,000 U.S. employees at companies with at least 500 workers. Survey participants were asked a series of questions including:
- How likely they were to recommend their company.
- To evaluate the companies they’ve worked for within the past two years.
- To evaluate organizations, they knew within their industry or through friends or family who worked there.
Responses were collected from all 50 states and Washington D.C. and weighted based on recent data to compile the list.
Here are the best employers in Iowa, according to Forbes:
Top-rated employers headquartered in the Des Moines Metro
2. Principal Financial Group
3. Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
7. Ankeny Community School District
13. Broadlawns Medical Center
22. State of Iowa
23. Des Moines Public Schools
25. UnityPoint Health
More: Looking for a new job? These Iowa companies rank among the best for pay
Top-rated employers based in Iowa
8. UI Health Care (formerly University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics), Iowa City
12. Iowa State University, Ames
16. Pella Corporation, Pella
17. Mercy Medical Center, Cedar Rapids
18. University of Iowa, Iowa City
26. Cedar Rapids Community School District, Cedar Rapids
29. Transamerica, Cedar Rapids
What are all of the Iowa companies on Forbes’ ‘Best Employers’ list?
The list from Forbes also included companies headquartered in other states that have large presences in Iowa. Here’s the complete list of employers in Iowa ranked by Forbes along with their headquarters location:
- Kwik Trip/Kwik Star, La Crosse, Wisconsin
- Principal Financial Group, Des Moines
- Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Des Moines
- United Parcel Service, Atlanta
- Nationwide Mutual Insurance, Columbus, Ohio
- UnitedHealth Group, Minnetonka, Minnesota
- Ankeny Community School District, Ankeny
- UI Health Care, Iowa City
- Hormel Foods, Austin, Minnesota
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C.
- Amazon, Seattle
- Iowa State University, Ames
- Broadlawns Medical Center, Des Moines
- John Deere, Moline, Illinois
- Target, Minneapolis
- Pella Corporation, Pella
- Mercy Medical Center, Cedar Rapids
- University of Iowa, Iowa City
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
- Menards, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
- Marsh & McLennan, New York
- State of Iowa, Des Moines
- Des Moines Public Schools, Des Moines
- FedEx, Memphis, Tennessee
- UnityPoint Health, West Des Moines
- Cedar Rapids Community School District, Cedar Rapids
- Sammons Enterprises, Dallas
- United States Postal Services (USPS), Washington, D.C.
- Transamerica, Cedar Rapids
- PepsiCo, Purchase, New York
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_
Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa State Patrol said it responded to 206 calls for service after another weekend winter storm Saturday.
From 5:30 am to 5:30 pm, ISP said it covered 88 crashes, with 74 resulting in property damage.
Officials said one person died and 13 others were injured.
The patrol had 118 motorist assists.
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
See Iowa DOT snowplow camera capture moment SUV rear ends plow
An Iowa DOT snowplow was hit while clearing snow along Iowa Highway 60 in Sioux County on Nov. 29, 2025. The crash was caught on the plow’s cameras.
A winter storm warning remains in effect until 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, for a large swath of the state, from northwest Iowa to much of central Iowa and southeast Iowa.
Drivers should expect slippery conditions.
Snow fell through the morning with accumulations of 2 to 3 inches across most of Iowa, according to the National Weather Service. The light, fluffy snow will taper off in the afternoon.
The weather service advises that snow-covered roads will make travel slick and more difficult and to use caution.
The counties affected include Pocahontas, Sac, Calhoun, Webster, Hamilton, Crawford, Carroll, Greene, Boone, Story, Marshall, Guthrie, Dallas, Polk, Jasper, Poweshiek, Warren, Marion, Mahaska, Monroe, Wapello and Davis.
Where did snow fall the most in Iowa?
Southern Iowa felt the brunt of the snow Saturday morning, with some areas experiencing nearly five inches of accumulation. Here are the highest totals so far in Iowa:
- Milton: 4.5 inches
- Parnell: 4.5 inches
- Norwalk: 3.8 inches
- Badger: 3.5 inches
- Bloomfield: 3.3 inches
- Carroll: 3.2 inches
- Buffalo: 3.2 inches
- North English: 3 inches
- Winterset: 2.6 inches
How much snow has fallen in Des Moines?
The Des Moines International Airport reported 1.2 inches of snow as of 6 a.m. Saturday. Norwalk, just south of Des Moines, reported 3.8 inches of snow by 10:30 a.m. Clive reported 2.7 inches of snow at 10 a.m.
How much snow did Iowa City get?
North Liberty, just north of Iowa City, reported three inches of snow as of 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Tiffin, which is to the northwest of Iowa City, reported 2.7 inches of snow at 10 a.m.
Roads across the state are covered in snow
The Iowa DOT reported that, as of 11 a.m., many of central Iowa’s highways and interstates were completely covered with snow. The organization said travel on I-80 from central Iowa to the Illinois border is not advised.
“Visibility and road conditions are deteriorating rapidly, causing multiple crashes and closing lanes,” the DOT said in a social media post around 11 a.m.
More snow followed by frigid temps
A cold weather advisory is in effect for much of northern, central and southeastern Iowa into Sunday morning. In the Des Moines area, wind chill values could drop to as low as -15. Wind chills across the state are expected between -20 and -30 starting at 6 p.m. Saturday.
(This article has been updated to include new information.)
CLARKE COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – An Iowa man was charged Friday in connection to a deadly horse-drawn buggy crash that killed a teenager last month.
Jacob Wright, 41, of Grand River, is facing charges including involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly accident.
The crash happened in Clarke County on November 12. According to the crash report, Wright’s car hit the back of the buggy and ran it into a ditch.
Elmer Borntrager, 16, was thrown from the buggy and died at the scene.
Police found Wright’s damaged vehicle days later about five miles from the crash scene.
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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