Unofficial numbers as of Nov. 4, 8:01 p.m., with 95 of 99 counties fully in. We list every race on your ballot and do not call them.
The Grimes Brief
We're building the same weekly briefing for Bondurant that Grimes already gets: home sales, jobs, what's on this week, and more. Be first to know when it launches.
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The day-by-day rundown of everything worth leaving the house for.
Off work and not sure what to do? We keep the whole week in one place so you are not digging through five Facebook pages. Here is the rhythm you can count on, plus this week's dated events, refreshed every Monday.
Bigger metro weekends and day trips are down in Worth the Drive. Full calendar in our annual events guide.
Five local picks this week: a place to know, something to do, one you may have missed, what's new, and a neighbor doing good.
The library is doing a lot of the town's weeknight lifting right now. Monday is Clay Creations at family night, 6 to 6:30pm. Wednesday's early out gets the Anatomy Ambassadors program for school-aged kids and teens, 1:30 to 2:30pm. Friday morning is Play with Your Food for the little ones, 10 to 11am.
Three shows: Friday and Saturday at 7pm, Sunday at 2pm. Sunday is the easy one with little kids. Tickets are through the district's show page.
A place to burn off energy on a cold morning. Basketballs, scooters, hopper balls and bowling for kids 6 and under, weekday mornings through March, $5 per family. Spots are limited, you register on the city's site, and a parent stays. It's at 410 SE Main St. More with kids.
The newest state data runs through September 30 and shows 80 Grimes filings since June 1, including Landmine Strategy Group, Efkamp Properties and BBN Travels. A filing means someone registered a business, not that a storefront is open. The full list.
The town's food pantry and clothing closet, at 112 NE Ewing St, Suite B. It's open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9am to noon, plus 5:30 to 7:30pm on the first and second Tuesdays. It takes food, clothing, money and volunteers. Call 515-986-4191 or see grimesstorehouse.org.
Nominate any Grimes business, nonprofit or local find for next week. Recommend it here →
Tap any section to open it. Each one ends with a link to the full guide.
Where we'd send you first: a starting lineup, with the address so you can just go.
Pizza: Northern Lights, Godfather's (200 SE Gateway Dr)
Mexican: El Huapango, Pancheros (2250 E 1st St), Chipotle (390 NE Gateway Dr)
Coffee: Lightbrite, the local roaster (1895 SE Grimes Blvd); Ziggi's (1201 NE Gateway Dr); Caribou (825 NE Gateway Dr)
Something sweet: Heavenly Delights bakery (105 E 1st St), Al's Dairy Freeze, The Outside Scoop
Quick and casual: McAlister's (2080 E 1st St), Culver's (1601 E 1st St), B-Bops (251 NE Cypress Dr), Buffalo Wild Wings GO (2205 E 1st St)
Cannot decide? Our what to eat tonight tool picks for you. More by meal: breakfast, coffee, pizza, Mexican, ice cream.
Dallas Center-Grimes competes as the Mustangs (red and white) in the Little Hawkeye Conference. We track results in season and always confirm home or away by the actual game venue.
Full guide: Mustangs sports and Mustangs football.
Most of Grimes is served by the well-regarded Dallas Center-Grimes district, home of the Mustangs. The northeast edge, toward Johnston, is in the Johnston district.
Start with our daycare guide, then the pools guide for summer. Grimes has a splash pad but no public pool.
For a newer suburb, Grimes packs in a lot of ways to get outside.
The nearest skiing and tubing is Seven Oaks near Boone, about 45 minutes. Sleepy Hollow in Des Moines is closed for the rest of 2026. For sledding, Warrior Park in Waukee is about 20 minutes. More in winter in Grimes.
Full rundown in the outdoors guide, parks, and trails.
Grimes does not have a movie theater or a public pool of its own, but plenty is a short drive away.
More in the movies and live music guides.
Drive times are from Grimes.
More in the day trips guide.
The Grimes Farmers and Community Market runs Saturday mornings, 8am to noon, at Heritage Park (1055 NE Beaverbrooke Blvd), second Saturday in June through September. It is off for the season.
No Grimes garage sales posted for this weekend on gsalr.com.
Full guide: Grimes farmers market.
DCG serves about 3,500 students across seven buildings, preschool through 12th grade, and competes in the Little Hawkeye Conference.
Wednesday, Nov 4 is a 1pm early dismissal, and so is Nov 11. No school Friday, Nov 13, and Thanksgiving break is Nov 25 to 27. Lunch menus are at dcgschools.nutrislice.com; see our school lunch guide and the school calendar.
Pay through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Details in our school lunch guide.
The northeast edge of Grimes, toward Johnston, is in the Johnston district rather than DCG. Check your address with the district before you buy or enroll. More in our schools guide.
Grimes is split between Polk and Dallas counties, so a few things depend on which side of town you live on, chiefly your county for voting and vehicle registration.
Grimes contracts law enforcement to the Polk County Sheriff (non-emergency 515-286-3333). The full nonpartisan rundown, from city hall to Congress, is in our who represents Grimes guide, and the unofficial 2026 results (split by county) are on the results page.
Not sure which side you're on? Start with what county is Grimes in.
More in utilities, trash, snow rules and property taxes.
Straight from the county record. Grimes spans two counties, so we track both sides. Polk County has posted no sales after July 28, so the Polk side stops there.
Polk side: existing-home resales. Dallas (west) side: new-construction lot sales. See the month-by-month numbers on our home sales dashboard, and the full picture in cost of living.
A sample of current openings in and around Grimes, refreshed weekly. Click a role to apply.
Listings via Adzuna and employer sites. We drop obvious spam and out-of-town posts.
New in GrimesThe newest businesses registered in Grimes with the State of Iowa, freshest first. A filing means someone registered a business, not that a storefront is open yet.
80 filings since June 1, through September 30, 2026. See every one, by category →
Know a great restaurant, a local find, a deal, an event, a garage sale or a neighbor worth a mention? Send it in. The best picks land in the Brief.
Recommend a spot →