Iowa — 2025 Year in Review
Land use and zoning activity from city and county planning meetings in Iowa during 2025.
Iowa indexed 4,847 projects with decisions in 2025 across 16 counties, with 6,671 approved and 23 denied actions (99.7% approval rate). Story County led with 1,393 projects (29% of the state), followed by Woodbury County (578) and Lee County (260). Together those three counties accounted for 46% of indexed activity.
Read the Complete Iowa Planning Commission Guide for context on how planning decisions work in Iowa.
“Projects with decisions” counts unique projects. “Approved” and “Denied” count individual actions (one project can have multiple actions across meetings).
By county
| County | Projects | Approved actions | Denied actions | Approval % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas | 170 | 193 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Des Moines | 163 | 196 | 5 | 97.5% |
| Floyd | 83 | 100 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Jefferson | 29 | 29 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Lee | 260 | 318 | 2 | 99.4% |
| Marion | 130 | 156 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Mitchell | 59 | 88 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Plymouth | 15 | 18 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Polk | 59 | 69 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Pottawattamie | 91 | 101 | 4 | 96.2% |
| Poweshiek | 40 | 41 | 1 | 97.6% |
| Scott | 26 | 27 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Story | 1,393 | 1,829 | 1 | 99.9% |
| Warren | 62 | 74 | 2 | 97.4% |
| Webster | 9 | 10 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Woodbury | 578 | 906 | 1 | 99.9% |
Data from public meeting documents processed by Boardwalk. Coverage varies by jurisdiction. Not all cities and counties are included.