Editing Ames, Iowa (section)

== Economy ==
Iowa State University contains the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]]'s National Animal Disease Center, which developed the [[Ames strain]]), and the [[U.S. Department of Energy]]'s [[Ames Laboratory]], a major materials research and development facility.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Located in Ames are the main offices of the [[Iowa Department of Transportation]], and state and Federal institutions are the largest employers in Ames.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The [[ISU Research Park|Iowa State University Research Park]] is a [[not-for-profit]] business development incubator located in Ames, and affiliated with Iowa State University.<ref>{{cite web | last = Wirth | first = Eric | title = ISU Research Park: Hiding in Plain Sight | publisher = Iowa State University | date = February 24, 2015 | url = http://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/student_life/article_df4f1048-b947-11e4-8ce4-43e423ac2d57.html | access-date = November 21, 2016 | archive-date = November 21, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161121233057/http://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/student_life/article_df4f1048-b947-11e4-8ce4-43e423ac2d57.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

The Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked Ames and [[Boulder, Colorado]] as having the lowest unemployment rate (2.5%) of any metropolitan area in the United States in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ames, Iowa, and Boulder, Colorado, had the lowest unemployment rates in January 2016|url=https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/ames-iowa-and-boulder-colorado-had-the-lowest-unemployment-rates-in-january-2016.htm|website=TED: The Economics Daily|publisher=US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics|date=March 25, 2016}}</ref> By June 2018, unemployment in Ames had fallen even further, to 1.5%, though wage increases for workers were not keeping pace with rising rents.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/in-the-nations-hottest-job-market-wages-rise-but-costs-are-higher/2018/08/17/54f301ca-9fee-11e8-b562-1db4209bd992_story.html|title=Stuck in a belligerent doldrum': Wages rise in the nation's hottest job market — but so do costs|last=Franckel|first=Todd C|date=August 15, 2018|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref>

=== Top employers ===
As of 2022, the top employers in the city are:<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 30, 2022 |title=2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report |url=https://www.cityofames.org/home/showpublisheddocument/71993/638193027074030000 |access-date= |website=City of Ames}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! Employer
! # of Employees
!Percentage
of Total City
Employment
|-
|1
| [[Iowa State University]]
|18,212
|33.33%
|-
|3
| [[Mary Greeley Medical Center]]
|1,407
|2.57%
|-
|2
| City of Ames
|1,382
|2.53%
|-
|4
| McFarland Clinic, P. C.
|1,200
|2.20%
|-
|5
| [[Danfoss]]
|1,052
|1.93%
|-
|6
| [[Iowa Department of Transportation]]
|975
|1.78%
|-
|7
|[[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]]
|750
|1.37%
|-
|8
| [[Ames Community School District]]
|700
|1.28%
|-
|9
| [[Hach Company|Hach Chemical]]
|580
|1.06%
|-
|10
| [[Workiva]]
|550
|1.01%
|}