Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School · Photo: Larry Day, Photographer · Public domainUnemployment in Des Moines (5.6%) is higher than in 69% of U.S. towns
About two in five stay in Des Moines for work; outside it, West Des Moines is the main destination (14%, 9 miles). For jobs and income Des Moines is better than 44% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (A). The average commute, 20 minutes each way, matches the Iowa norm.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Des Moines
Job access by car holds Des Moines’ grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Des Moines could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Who works in Des Moines, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 55,157 residents head out to work, 38,491 work right here, and 84,818 people come in from elsewhere.
About 242,000 people are in Des Moines on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places Des Moines commutes to
Where Des Moines clocks in
14% of workers
6% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The jobs
123,309 jobs are based in Des Moines.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Des Moines, 2013 → 2023: 128,850 → 123,309. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Des Moines’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Des Moines: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Des Moines workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 96,669 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Des Moines’ workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Des Moines, walking beats the bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 111,255 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 34% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.0% of Des Moines households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Des Moines’ commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Des Moines places 76th of 126 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 148,000 to 286,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Modesto CA | 219,652 | $80K | 13.3% | 7.2% | 31% | B− |
| 75 | Hollywood FL | 157,019 | $67K | 14.7% | 6.5% | 13% | C+ |
| 76 | Des Moines IA | 212,086 | $66K | 15.0% | 5.6% | 41% | C+ |
| 77 | Salem OR | 181,779 | $75K | 14.4% | 5.8% | 49% | C+ |
| 78 | Norfolk VA | 231,013 | $66K | 16.5% | 5.7% | 36% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Des Moines, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
20% of Des Moines works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Des Moines workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines | – | C+ | A | 20 min | $65,932 |
| West Des Moines | 14% | A− | B+ | 18 min | $86,594 |
| Pleasant Hill | under 2% | B | B | 22 min | $90,508 |
| Urbandale | 6% | A | B | 19 min | $112,795 |
| Norwalk | under 2% | A | B | 22 min | $102,722 |
| Windsor Heights | under 2% | A | B | 14 min | $91,707 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to West Des Moines. Darker towns draw more of Des Moines’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Des Moines: questions
What is the median household income in Des Moines?
$65,932 (±$1,922) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Des Moines?
15.0%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Des Moines?
20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Des Moines work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Des Moines (14%, 9 mi), Ankeny (6%, 11 mi), Urbandale (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Des Moines walkable?
Des Moines is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Des Moines without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 34% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Des Moines, from the people who make the trip.
More of Des Moines
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.