Des Moines vs Issaquah

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

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

Issaquah has the higher population (39,472 vs 32,545 in Des Moines). Issaquah has the higher median household income ($153,786 vs $89,787 in Des Moines). Issaquah has the higher median home value ($934,100 vs $539,800 in Des Moines).

Population, income & housing

	Des Moines	Issaquah
Population	32,545	39,472
Median age	37.5 yrs	37.2 yrs
Median household income	$89,787	$153,786
Median home value	$539,800	$934,100
Median gross rent	$1,727	$2,484
Housing units	12,740	17,180
Homeownership rate	60.8%	58.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.2%	69.6%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	3.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Des Moines	Issaquah
Population	31,734 → 32,545 (+2.6%)	37,965 → 39,472 (+4.0%)
Median household income	$70,222 → $89,787 (+27.9%)	$109,676 → $153,786 (+40.2%)
Median home value	$359,100 → $539,800 (+50.3%)	$642,300 → $934,100 (+45.4%)
Median gross rent	$1,337 → $1,727 (+29.2%)	$1,982 → $2,484 (+25.3%)

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

Issaquah

Population

37,96539,472

Median household income

$109,676$153,786

Median home value

$642,300$934,100

Median gross rent

$1,982$2,484

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Des Moines	Issaquah
Under 5	6.8%	4.3%
5 to 17	14.6%	17.3%
18 to 24	8.6%	4.7%
25 to 34	15.6%	19.0%
35 to 44	15.1%	18.2%
45 to 54	11.8%	14.6%
55 to 64	11.3%	8.6%
65 to 74	8.1%	6.4%
75 and over	8.0%	6.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Des Moines	Issaquah
White (non-Hispanic)	45.9%	56.1%
Black or African American	10.8%	1.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.2%
Asian	12.0%	27.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	1.6%	0.1%
Some other race	0.2%	1.0%
Two or more races	8.4%	7.7%
Hispanic or Latino	20.9%	5.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Des Moines	Issaquah
No high school diploma	10.9%	2.3%
High school graduate	25.2%	7.6%
Some college or associate's	30.6%	20.6%
Bachelor's degree	22.2%	39.0%
Graduate or professional degree	11.0%	30.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Des Moines	Issaquah
Drove alone	70.1%	49.7%
Carpooled	8.4%	6.8%
Public transit	6.1%	3.5%
Walked	2.0%	1.7%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.1%
Worked from home	12.6%	36.7%
Other means	0.6%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Des Moines	Issaquah
1-unit, detached	57.6%	37.3%
1-unit, attached	2.0%	15.4%
2 to 4 units	8.2%	6.0%
5 to 19 units	15.6%	19.5%
20 or more units	15.0%	21.8%
Mobile home & other	1.6%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Des Moines	Issaquah
Poverty rate	10.7%	5.9%
Average household size	2.63	2.38
Mean commute (minutes)	31	27
Median year structure built	1974	2002