Des Moines vs West Des Moines

A side-by-side comparison of Des Moines and West Des Moines: population, income, housing, and more.

Des Moines and West Des Moines are places in Iowa. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Des Moines has the higher population (212,464 vs 69,893 in West Des Moines). West Des Moines has the higher median household income ($84,925 vs $63,966 in Des Moines). West Des Moines has the higher median home value ($286,300 vs $183,700 in Des Moines).

Population, income & housing

	Des Moines	West Des Moines
Population	212,464	69,893
Median age	34.6 yrs	36.5 yrs
Median household income	$63,966	$84,925
Median home value	$183,700	$286,300
Median gross rent	$1,054	$1,194
Housing units	97,457	33,605
Homeownership rate	60.4%	57.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.0%	54.6%
Unemployment rate	5.7%	2.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Des Moines	West Des Moines
Population	215,636 → 212,464 (-1.5%)	65,606 → 69,893 (+6.5%)
Median household income	$53,525 → $63,966 (+19.5%)	$76,368 → $84,925 (+11.2%)
Median home value	$133,200 → $183,700 (+37.9%)	$218,500 → $286,300 (+31.0%)
Median gross rent	$855 → $1,054 (+23.3%)	$1,017 → $1,194 (+17.4%)

Des Moines

Population

215,636212,464

Median household income

$53,525$63,966

Median home value

$133,200$183,700

Median gross rent

$855$1,054

West Des Moines

Population

65,60669,893

Median household income

$76,368$84,925

Median home value

$218,500$286,300

Median gross rent

$1,017$1,194

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Des Moines	West Des Moines
Under 5	6.8%	5.9%
5 to 17	16.2%	15.3%
18 to 24	10.7%	8.6%
25 to 34	17.0%	18.0%
35 to 44	13.0%	13.9%
45 to 54	11.8%	11.9%
55 to 64	11.9%	11.8%
65 to 74	7.7%	8.3%
75 and over	4.8%	6.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Des Moines	West Des Moines
White (non-Hispanic)	61.7%	78.3%
Black or African American	11.8%	3.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	6.2%	7.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.0%	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	16.0%	6.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Des Moines	West Des Moines
No high school diploma	12.7%	3.7%
High school graduate	29.1%	16.1%
Some college or associate's	29.1%	25.6%
Bachelor's degree	19.9%	35.7%
Graduate or professional degree	9.1%	18.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Des Moines	West Des Moines
Drove alone	72.3%	71.9%
Carpooled	11.2%	7.8%
Public transit	1.1%	0.3%
Walked	2.2%	1.1%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.1%
Worked from home	11.4%	17.3%
Other means	1.3%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Des Moines	West Des Moines
1-unit, detached	61.6%	44.8%
1-unit, attached	3.9%	11.9%
2 to 4 units	5.1%	2.0%
5 to 19 units	8.1%	18.0%
20 or more units	18.6%	22.5%
Mobile home & other	2.8%	0.9%

Poverty & households

	Des Moines	West Des Moines
Poverty rate	14.9%	7.3%
Average household size	2.30	2.18
Mean commute (minutes)	20	18
Median year structure built	1960	1993