These Are The 10 Snobbiest Cities In Iowa

We analyzed over 150 cities in Iowa to identify the ones that probably think they’re better than you.

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In Iowa, there aren’t too many snobs. Right? Well, we’re the snob hounds, and we say that yes, definitely, some cities in the Hawkeye State are quite snootier than others.

How can we tell which Iowa cities are the snobbiest? By measuring snobby things, that’s how.

After analyzing more than 100 cities, we’ve firmly decided that these are the 10 snobbiest cities in the state of Iowa:

  1. Windsor Heights
  2. Coralville (Photos)
  3. Mount Vernon (Photos)
  4. Urbandale (Photos)
  5. West Des Moines (Photos)
  6. Asbury (Photos)
  7. Clive (Photos)
  8. Johnston (Photos)
  9. Waukee (Photos)
  10. Robins

This list probably wasn’t a shocker for anyone who lives anywhere but in Windsor Heights. In fact, the snobs there are probably wincing, because now we all know that they think they’re better than the rest of us.


For more Iowa reading, check out:

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How we determined the snobbiest places in Iowa


We started by making a list of every place in Iowa with more than 2,000 people based on the 2013 American Community Survey. That left us with more than 150 places in Iowa.


  • Median home price (Higher is snobbier)
  • Median household income (Higher is snobbier)
  • Private schools per capita (Higher is snobbier)
  • Theaters per capita (Higher is snobbier)
  • Art galleries per capita (Higher is snobbier)


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1. Windsor Heights

Source: Public Domain

Population: 4,857
Median household income: $65,816
Median home price: $163,500

There are snooty places, there are snobby places, and then there’s Windsor Heights. In fact, on their city’s home page, they call themselves, ‘The Best Place to Live.’ If that’s not snobby, we don’t know what is.

Just outside of Des Moines, Windsor Heights certainly isn’t the richest, nor do they have the largest homes. They’re up there, though. What Windsor Heights has is culture. For a small place, there more than enough private schools, art galleries and theaters, per person in the area to get an Iowa snob busy year round.

2. Coralville

Population: 18,931
Median household income: $56,635
Median home price: $186,500

Just outside of Iowa City is the medium sized city of Coralville. Here, they have just about the largest homes in the state. And if putting your kids in private school is a snobbish action, than Coralville is snob central. They have just about more private schools in the area than anywhere else in Iowa.

Coralville also has its fair share of other snooty activities, including theaters and arts related activities. And don’t even try and get into an academic discussion about ballet with a Coralville resident. See, they’re the 2nd smartest in the entire state. Nearly 6 in 10 of them has a college degree.

3. Mount Vernon

Population: 4,498
Median household income: $70,960
Median home price: $180,700

Way back in 2009, Budget Travel Magazine published a report on America’s Coolest Small Towns, and Mount Vernon was toward the top of the list. And you can bet the small number of people who live here will remind you of that every chance they get.

Just outside of Cedar Rapids, Mount Vernon is also home to the snooty, private Cornell College. Partly due to that, they’re just about as smart as you can get in the Hawkeye State. And, residents are really wealthy, live in some of the bigger homes, and are art fanatics.

Does that make you a snob? Only if you brag about it.

4. Urbandale

Source: Public domain

Population: 39,426
Median household income: $83,134
Median home price: $191,500

Does being ranked by CNN Money Magazine a couple times ten years or so ago as being one of the best places to live in America (39th or so) make you a snob? When you keep reminding people about it every chance you get, than the answer is yes.

Urbandale people are pretty wealthy and have some of the biggest homes in the state. There are also quite a few private schools in the Urbandale area, and arts are quite a big deal. Nearly half of the city has a college degree.

So yeah, they’re probably thinking they have it better off than most people in Iowa.

5. West Des Moines

Population: 57,041
Median household income: $68,283
Median home price: $184,400

There’s only one Whole Foods market in the entire state of Iowa, and it’s in West Des Moines. If that isn’t a slap to the face of the Iowa farming community, what is? They’re basically saying they prefer to eat food that doesn’t have all those chemicals and pesticides. Even though most of the state’s economy is centered around food production.

Plus, they’re pretty rich, live in homes much larger than most, and are more educated than 90% of the population.

6. Asbury

Source: Public domain

Population: 24,073
Median household income: $85,385
Median home price: $206,500

Asbury. Say it with a British accent. It sounds snobby.

You’re not going to find $200,000 homes in too many places in Iowa. But there are plenty of them here in Asbury, a Dubuque suburb. They call themselves a ‘spacious, bedroom community.’ How snob-tastic of you guys!

Plus, their city motto is, ‘More Than You Can Imagine.’ Who says that?

There aren’t any private schools in Asbury, but the parents here are highly motivated, and many send their kids to private schools in Dubuque, as they are open to anyone, regardless of location.

And there’s an award winning golf course here.

7. Clive

Source: Public domain

Population: 15,577
Median household income: $96,452
Median home price: $228,900

Welcome to Clive, home of just about the wealthiest, smartest people in the state of Iowa. Actually 2nd smartest and wealthiest. You can bet that many of the people in Clive who see this will probably wince when we point that out.

The city of Clive has T shirts for sale on its website that call themselves ‘trendy’. Does that make them snobby? Yes it does.

Clive is right next to West Des Moines, which means they get to shop at Whole Foods as well. How convenient for them.

8. Johnston

Population: 17,316
Median household income: $94,014
Median home price: $238,000

Apparently, Johnston, Iowa is a snob magnet. Its population has exploded over the last 15 years. You can see why – anyone who wants to buy the most expensive homes in the state moves here.

There aren’t any private schools within Johnston, but there are many after school, high end learning centers here for the parents who feel the public schools aren’t good enough for their kids.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright spent some time here, as did Miss Iowa 2011. You KNOW she’s a snob.

9. Waukee

Population: 14,108
Median household income: $78,102
Median home price: $187,800

Well it’s official. The suburbs surrounding Des Moines are the snobbiest bunch in the state of Iowa. Waukee is no different – a bunch of high earners in expensive homes with a high brow education who attend art openings and plays and such.

When your city slogan is “The Key To Good Living,” that’s a sign that you think you’ve got it all figured out. Maybe you do. In fact, we’re not knocking places like this. We’re actually a little jealous.

10. Robins

Source: Public Domain

Population: 3,136
Median household income: $111,652
Median home price: $242,800

There’s one reason why Robins people are snobs. It starts with an M and ends on ONEY. These folks are loaded, so yes, most likely, they think they’re better off than the rest of the state.

Just outside of Cedar Rapids, Robins doesn’t have any snooty amenities within its city, proper, but there are plenty in the area for them to attend.

You can see why the people in Robins are a little uppity. Their town is well organized, and just…so darn cute. Are they snobs?

Yeah, a little. But can you blame them?

Summing Up The Humble Pie

Well there you have it, the places in Iowa that needed a piece of humble pie, with Windsor Heights in particular being called out as the snobbiest place in the state.
If you’re curious, here are the least snobby cities in Iowa. Or the most down to earth, if you will:

  1. Ottumwa (Pop. 24,849)
  2. Rockwell City (Pop. 2,237)
  3. Clarinda (Pop. 5,535)
  4. Chariton (Pop. 4,333)
  5. Tama (Pop. 2,821)

And in case you missed it, we ranked the worst places to live in Iowa. Click here to read that one.

Desktop users, below is a chart with the top 100 snobbiest cities in Iowa.

City Population Rank
windsor heights 4857 1
coralville 18931 2
mount vernon 4498 3
urbandale 39426 4
west des moines 57041 5
asbury 4385 6
clive 15557 7
johnston 17316 8
waukee 14108 9
robins 3136 10
west branch 2606 11
waverly 9881 12
le claire 3737 13
pella 10365 14
huxley 3270 15
decorah 8097 16
orange city 6054 17
clear lake 7765 18
sioux center 7055 19
ankeny 45732 20
cedar falls 39197 21
polk city 3451 22
bettendorf 33347 23
iowa city 68364 24
sergeant bluff 4178 25
grimes 8341 26
altoona 14563 27
marion 34750 27
williamsburg 3060 29
hudson 2366 30
spencer 11204 31
grinnell 9205 32
north liberty 13330 33
indianola 14787 34
vinton 5253 35
norwalk 9012 36
eldridge 5630 37
carlisle 4070 38
fairfield 9462 39
milford 2897 40
hiawatha 7046 41
park view 2408 42
osage 3615 43
saylorville 2849 44
bondurant 3891 45
forest city 4142 46
story city 3416 47
nevada 6795 48
adel 3767 49
grundy center 2694 50
ames 59206 51
de witt 5299 52
garner 3109 53
dubuque 57727 54
cedar rapids 126921 55
wilton 2800 55
center point 2494 57
lamoni 2708 58
davenport 99781 59
washington 7277 60
dyersville 4093 61
sheldon 5096 62
independence 5988 63
albia 3772 64
glenwood 5276 64
algona 5534 66
humboldt 4671 67
eldora 2727 68
des moines 204362 69
rock rapids 2552 70
kalona 2544 71
storm lake 10541 72
le mars 9765 73
muscatine 22915 74
carroll 10057 75
anamosa 5605 76
bellevue 2246 77
manchester 5160 78
winterset 5170 79
jesup 2883 80
marshalltown 27465 81
monticello 3792 82
mount pleasant 8737 83
west liberty 3710 84
hampton 4438 85
iowa falls 5186 86
belmond 2210 86
shenandoah 5144 88
bloomfield 2619 89
colfax 2210 90
camanche 4429 91
tipton 3206 92
la porte city 2554 93
rock valley 3369 94
boone 12658 95
mitchellville 2525 96
estherville 6318 97
mason city 28012 98
cresco 3873 99
harlan 5098 100
council bluffs 61986 101

4 thoughts on “These Are The 10 Snobbiest Cities In Iowa

  1. Ummm. . . Windsor Heights has zero art galleries and theaters. Might want to check those “facts.” I am assuming this would disqualify WH from the list now.

  2. Folk’s in Fairfield have their nose’s held so high in the air it’s a wonder the population doesn’t drown when it rains!!!!

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