Gov. Reynolds succeeded to the office on May 24, 2017. Kim Reynolds is now serving a 3rd consecutive term; the current term began Jan. 2023. The scored record above covers Iowa's outcomes during this continuous service, lagged per category (each category's lag was fixed before scoring).
Governors › Iowa
Iowa Under Kim Reynolds
Republican · Succeeded to office May 24, 2017 · Now in 3rd term
Iowa has tracked the other 49 states almost exactly under Gov. Reynolds — No. 23 of 29 governors with rated records, across 16 categories.
Kim Reynolds
Iowa · Republican · since May 2017 · 3rd term
Overall · citizen-weighted
No. 23 of 29
−0.33σ · 16 of 20 categories
equal-weight: −0.39σ · weighting helps
| Category | Latest | Score vs. peers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honesty | — | In human review | |
| Spending discipline | — | Rubric in development | |
| Education scale score | 274.8 ’24 | −0.83σ* | |
| Air quality AQI | 42.5 ’24 | −0.67σ | |
| Water quality % of community systems | 1.2 ’25 | +0.01σ | |
| Unemployment % | 3.5 ’25 | −1.13σ | |
| Health coverage % of adults 18-64 | 8.0 ’24 | −0.78σ | |
| Tax burden % of personal income | 6.0 ’24 | +0.80σ | |
| Energy cost cents/kWh | 13.4 ’24 | +1.28σ | |
| Cost of living index, US=100 | 87.8 ’24 | +1.94σ | |
| Crime deaths per 100,000 | 3.4 ’24 | −0.68σ | |
| Teen births per 1,000 females 15-19 | 12.2 ’24 | −1.82σ | |
| Wellbeing mean days of past 30 | 4.7 ’24 | −0.28σ | |
| School food quality | — | Rubric in development | |
| School shootings | 8 ’24 | Context · 11/10yr | |
| Obesity % of adults | 36.6 ’24 | +0.73σ | |
| Early literacy % of 4th graders | 39.5 ’24 | −0.93σ* | |
| Gun deaths deaths per 100,000 (age-adjusted) | 11.8 ’24 | −1.19σ | |
| Food-aid access index (higher = easier access) | 0.6 ’23 | −1.36σ | |
| Jobless-benefit access % of unemployed receiving UI | 23.9 ’24 | −1.80σ |
Data transparency — 100% of state-run reporting delivered this tenureFull reporting
Scores are trends vs. the other 49 states over this governor’s window, in σ; *thin data (under 3 points). Tap ? on any row for what it measures, its chart, and the source. All provisional while the term runs. Methodology v2.1
Unemployment Rate, 2010–2025
Iowa against all 49 other states Iowa 50-state median Other 49 states Scored window
Annual-average unemployment rate — the longest-running series on the card, charted in full. The shaded band is its scored window: it opens one year after inauguration and tracks through the newest published data. The dashed line is the 50-state median, shown for context; scoring uses the median of the other 49 states. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
The Record
Show the Work
every published number, reproducible| Education (NAEP (Nation's Report Card)) | −0.83σ · window 2020–2024 (2 pts, thin) · state −0.4%/yr vs peers −0.1%/yr |
| Air quality (EPA AirData) | −0.67σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state +1.6%/yr vs peers +0.6%/yr |
| Water quality (EPA SDWIS/ECHO) | +0.01σ · window 2019–2025 (7 pts) · state +0.0%/yr vs peers +0.0%/yr |
| Unemployment (BLS LAUS) | −1.13σ · window 2019–2025 (7 pts) · state −1.6%/yr vs peers −4.9%/yr |
| Health coverage (CDC BRFSS) | −0.78σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state −4.9%/yr vs peers −8.1%/yr |
| Tax burden (Census STC ÷ BEA personal income) | +0.80σ · window 2018–2024 (7 pts) · state −1.0%/yr vs peers +0.7%/yr |
| Energy cost (EIA) | +1.28σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state +1.7%/yr vs peers +4.4%/yr |
| Cost of living (BEA) | +1.94σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state −0.9%/yr vs peers −0.0%/yr |
| Crime (CDC WONDER) | −0.68σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state +2.3%/yr vs peers −0.5%/yr |
| Teen births (CDC WONDER) | −1.82σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state −3.1%/yr vs peers −5.7%/yr |
| Wellbeing (CDC BRFSS) | −0.28σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state +3.6%/yr vs peers +3.1%/yr |
| Obesity (CDC BRFSS) | +0.73σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state +0.5%/yr vs peers +1.3%/yr |
| Early literacy (NAEP (Nation's Report Card)) | −0.93σ · window 2020–2024 (2 pts, thin) · state +5.0%/yr vs peers +1.8%/yr |
| Gun deaths (CDC WONDER) | −1.19σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state +3.2%/yr vs peers +1.2%/yr |
| Food-aid access (USDA FNS) | −1.36σ · window 2019–2023 (4 pts) · state −2.0%/yr vs peers +3.1%/yr |
| Jobless-benefit access (US DOL ETA) | −1.80σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state −19.4%/yr vs peers −10.7%/yr |
| Overall (mean of domain scores) | −0.33σ · economy +0.70 · health −0.54 · environment −0.33 · public_safety −0.93 · education −0.88 · social_services −1.58 · fiscal +0.80 |
| Methodology | v2.1, preregistered — directions and lags fixed before scoring; full dataset at /pwr.json |
Every score is a fitted log-linear trend over that category’s window, minus the median trend of the other 49 states, standardized by the spread across states (σ) and capped at ±2.5. Positive always means “moved better than peers” under the category’s preregistered direction.
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Iowa has tracked the other 49 states almost exactly under Gov. Reynolds — No. 23 of 29 governors with rated records, across 16 categories. — Political Grades, methodology v2.1, data through 2025. Provisional; trend-vs-peers scoring; relative movement, not causation.