Burien vs Des Moines

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

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

Burien has the higher population (51,331 vs 32,545 in Des Moines). Burien has the higher median household income ($90,597 vs $89,787 in Des Moines). Burien has the higher median home value ($609,300 vs $539,800 in Des Moines).

Population, income & housing

	Burien	Des Moines
Population	51,331	32,545
Median age	39.8 yrs	37.5 yrs
Median household income	$90,597	$89,787
Median home value	$609,300	$539,800
Median gross rent	$1,742	$1,727
Housing units	21,184	12,740
Homeownership rate	56.9%	60.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	31.5%	33.2%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	7.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Burien	Des Moines
Population	51,477 → 51,331 (-0.3%)	31,734 → 32,545 (+2.6%)
Median household income	$67,402 → $90,597 (+34.4%)	$70,222 → $89,787 (+27.9%)
Median home value	$380,300 → $609,300 (+60.2%)	$359,100 → $539,800 (+50.3%)
Median gross rent	$1,268 → $1,742 (+37.4%)	$1,337 → $1,727 (+29.2%)

Burien

Population

51,47751,331

Median household income

$67,402$90,597

Median home value

$380,300$609,300

Median gross rent

$1,268$1,742

Des Moines

Population

31,73432,545

Median household income

$70,222$89,787

Median home value

$359,100$539,800

Median gross rent

$1,337$1,727

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Burien	Des Moines
Under 5	5.3%	6.8%
5 to 17	15.4%	14.6%
18 to 24	8.1%	8.6%
25 to 34	13.3%	15.6%
35 to 44	15.6%	15.1%
45 to 54	13.7%	11.8%
55 to 64	13.1%	11.3%
65 to 74	9.6%	8.1%
75 and over	5.8%	8.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Burien	Des Moines
White (non-Hispanic)	47.9%	45.9%
Black or African American	7.0%	10.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.2%
Asian	15.0%	12.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.5%	1.6%
Some other race	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more races	5.8%	8.4%
Hispanic or Latino	23.1%	20.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Burien	Des Moines
No high school diploma	15.1%	10.9%
High school graduate	21.8%	25.2%
Some college or associate's	31.6%	30.6%
Bachelor's degree	20.8%	22.2%
Graduate or professional degree	10.7%	11.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Burien	Des Moines
Drove alone	61.8%	70.1%
Carpooled	13.6%	8.4%
Public transit	6.5%	6.1%
Walked	1.2%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.2%
Worked from home	15.8%	12.6%
Other means	0.8%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Burien	Des Moines
1-unit, detached	59.6%	57.6%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	2.0%
2 to 4 units	4.5%	8.2%
5 to 19 units	17.5%	15.6%
20 or more units	15.1%	15.0%
Mobile home & other	0.6%	1.6%

Poverty & households

	Burien	Des Moines
Poverty rate	10.4%	10.7%
Average household size	2.56	2.63
Mean commute (minutes)	27	31
Median year structure built	1965	1974