Norwegian Population in Dallas County, IA by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The Norwegian population in Dallas County, IA is officially recorded at 4,817, with all of the county''s incorporated cities reporting residents of Norwegian ancestry. Among them, West Des Moines (3,379), Urbandale (2,579), and Clive (1,188) account for the largest shares. Interestingly, when adding up individual city estimates, the total surpasses the county-level figure - a difference that often arises from how city and county statistics are modeled separately. Below, we explore how Norwegian communities are distributed across Iowa''s more urbanized and fragmented counties.

Top 5 cities with the largest Norwegian population in Dallas County

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  • 1
    West Des Moines
    Norwegian population in West Des Moines is 3,379
    4.83% of West Des Moines population is Norwegian
  • 2
    Urbandale
    Norwegian population in Urbandale is 2,579
    5.60% of Urbandale population is Norwegian
  • 3
    Clive
    Norwegian population in Clive is 1,188
    6.33% of Clive population is Norwegian
  • 4
    Waukee
    Norwegian population in Waukee is 835
    3.10% of Waukee population is Norwegian
  • 5
    Adel
    Norwegian population in Adel is 228
    3.64% of Adel population is Norwegian

Overview of Norwegian population in Dallas County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data shows Dallas County contains 4,817 Norwegian residents (4.6% of 104,136 total county population), ranking the jurisdiction at the 94th percentile nationally among counties and 91st percentile within Iowa for Norwegian demographic concentrations across both absolute and proportional measures.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS show Dallas County's Norwegian population of 4.6% surpassing both Iowa's state average of 4.4% and the national average of 1.2%, positioning the county as a high-concentration jurisdiction exceeding demographic benchmarks across all geographic scales.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey data documents Dallas County with 4,817 Norwegian residents, representing 3.5% of Iowa's total Norwegian population of 139,119.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey indicate Dallas County's density of 8.2 Norwegian Americans per square mile exceeds Iowa's average of 2.5 per square mile by three and one-quarter times, establishing the county as a significant concentration center for Norwegian demographic communities.
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13 Cities in Dallas County Ranked by Norwegian Population

View Methodology
ACS data [1] confirm Norwegian populations in every incorporated city in the county, with the largest counts in West Des Moines, Urbandale, Clive, and Waukee. The table below provides detailed figures, including total population, density measures, and demographic distributions, based on the current ACS data for all 13 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Dallas County, IA ranked by Norwegian population count
Rank by Norwegian Population
City
Norwegian Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Dallas County Norwegian Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 West Des Moines 3,379 4.83% 70.15%
2 Urbandale 2,579 5.60% 53.54%
3 Clive 1,188 6.33% 24.66%
4 Waukee 835 3.10% 17.33%
5 Adel 228 3.64% 4.73%
6 Granger 181 9.43% 3.76%
7 Dallas Center 180 8.75% 3.74%
8 96 1.21% 1.99%
9 82 5.58% 1.70%
10 43 4.29% 0.89%
11 28 3.58% 0.58%
12 25 2.65% 0.52%
13 16 2.05% 0.33%
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Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks city in Dallas County, IA by their Norwegian population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Norwegian population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having Norwegian ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
  • Some people identify as Norwegian alone, while others identify as Norwegian along with another race (such as Norwegian and German).
  • We’ve used the “Norwegian alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Norwegian population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Norwegian alone or in combination in city. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Norwegian .
  2. % of Total Dallas County Norwegian Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Norwegian population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Norwegian populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • City that don’t have any reported Norwegian population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Norwegian populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

  1. 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
  2. 2023.