Buying a Home in Ankeny
The north metro's growth engine — new construction, new retail, and a lot of young families.
Ankeny has spent years near the top of Iowa's fastest-growing city lists, and the north metro has been built out around that growth: new subdivisions, new retail corridors along Delaware and Oralabor, and a school district that has expanded to two high schools to keep pace.
Buyers come here for newer housing stock at a more approachable price than the western suburbs, plus a straight shot down I-35 into Des Moines.
Highlights
- Prairie Trail: a large mixed-use development with its own town-center feel
- The main campus of Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC)
- High Trestle Trail access — one of Iowa's best-known bike trails
- A high share of newer construction across a wide price range
Ankeny by the numbers
Home value, rent & market activity: Zillow Research (2026-08). Income & demographics: U.S. Census ACS (5-year).
Browse current Ankeny listings on Zillow →
School choice: who is moving in, and out
Iowa lets parents enroll a child in a public district other than the one they live in (Iowa Code §282.18). The state publishes the counts, which shows something a school rating cannot: which districts families are actively choosing, and which they are leaving.
School district boundaries do not follow city limits. Figures below describe the district, not the city, and the two can differ a great deal: only about half the children living in the city of Urbandale attend Urbandale schools, while Waukee's district reaches well beyond Waukee. Check any specific address before relying on this.
Source: Iowa Department of Education, Certified Enrollment by District, 2025-26 school year. The bar shows transfers in and out as shares of all transfers, not the net. Percentages are of certified enrollment — every student living in the district, whichever school they attend. A net loss is not a verdict on a school — large districts lose more simply by being large, and families transfer for childcare, a parent's commute and sibling placement as well as for academics.
Schools
Served by the Ankeny Community School District, which operates two high schools. Boundaries have shifted repeatedly with growth, so confirm for a specific address rather than a neighborhood.
Getting around
Straight down I-35 to downtown Des Moines, typically 20–25 minutes outside of peak. Rush hour on I-35 southbound is the main constraint.
Metro context
Source: Realtor.com via FRED (metro); Zillow Research (value/rent); U.S. Census ACS (demographics) · Des Moines–West Des Moines, IA · updated 2026-08.
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General guide only — verify school boundaries, taxes, and current prices for any specific address. Not real-estate or financial advice.