The Johnston Brief
If you shop in Johnston, the number on your receipt is 7 percent: Iowa's 6 percent statewide sales tax plus a 1 percent local option that most Polk County cities collect. Here's exactly what makes up that rate, how it compares with neighbors like Ankeny, and what is and isn't taxed.
The combined sales tax rate in Johnston is 7 percent: Iowa's 6 percent statewide sales tax plus a 1 percent local option sales tax (LOST). That's the same total as most of the Des Moines metro. A $100 purchase in Johnston costs $107 at the register. The main penny-on-the-dollar exception nearby is Ankeny, which stays at 6 percent because it hasn't adopted the local option.
Iowa's statewide sales tax is 6 percent, and Johnston adds a 1 percent local option on top, for a total of 7 percent. Iowa lets cities levy a local option sales tax (LOST) of up to 1 percent, and the vast majority do: more than 99 percent of Iowa cities have adopted one, and nearly every city in Polk County collects it. Johnston is among them, which is why its total rate matches Des Moines, Urbandale, West Des Moines and the rest of the metro at 7 percent.
Yes, by a single penny on the dollar. Johnston is 7 percent; Ankeny is 6 percent. Ankeny is the one city in Polk County that has never adopted the 1 percent local option, so it stays at the state's base rate. For most metro shoppers the difference is small day to day, but on a big-ticket purchase that extra 1 percent adds up, which is why some Ankeny shoppers make note of it.
The 7 percent applies to most retail purchases and many services. As across Iowa, some everyday essentials are exempt:
Vehicles are handled separately under Iowa's one-time registration fee rather than local sales tax. When in doubt, the Iowa Department of Revenue publishes what's taxable and what's exempt.
Sales tax is separate from property tax, and the two are often confused. Johnston's city property-tax levy is on the higher side for the metro, at $11.4379 per $1,000 of taxable value for FY2026. For how that works and how to appeal your assessment, see our Johnston property taxes guide, and for the wider budget picture, the cost of living guide.
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The combined sales tax rate in Johnston, Iowa is 7 percent. That is Iowa's 6 percent statewide sales tax plus a 1 percent local option sales tax. So a $100 purchase in Johnston rings up at $107.
Iowa's statewide sales tax is 6 percent, and Johnston, like most cities in Polk County, also collects a 1 percent local option sales tax on top of it. Added together, that makes the total rate 7 percent.
Yes. Johnston collects a 1 percent local option sales tax (LOST) on top of the state's 6 percent, which is what brings the total to 7 percent. Nearly every city in Polk County collects the same 1 percent local option.
Yes, by a penny on the dollar. Johnston's rate is 7 percent, while Ankeny is 6 percent because Ankeny is the one city in Polk County that has not adopted the 1 percent local option. Most other metro cities, like Johnston, are at 7 percent.
Most retail purchases in Johnston are taxed at 7 percent. As across Iowa, most unprepared grocery food and prescription drugs are exempt from sales tax, while prepared food, most goods and many services are taxable.