Des Moines vs SeaTac

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

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

Des Moines has the higher population (32,545 vs 31,143 in SeaTac). Des Moines has the higher median household income ($89,787 vs $76,517 in SeaTac). Des Moines has the higher median home value ($539,800 vs $483,200 in SeaTac).

Population, income & housing

	Des Moines	SeaTac
Population	32,545	31,143
Median age	37.5 yrs	36.8 yrs
Median household income	$89,787	$76,517
Median home value	$539,800	$483,200
Median gross rent	$1,727	$1,637
Housing units	12,740	12,424
Homeownership rate	60.8%	45.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.2%	26.6%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	8.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Des Moines	SeaTac
Population	31,734 → 32,545 (+2.6%)	29,019 → 31,143 (+7.3%)
Median household income	$70,222 → $89,787 (+27.9%)	$63,009 → $76,517 (+21.4%)
Median home value	$359,100 → $539,800 (+50.3%)	$321,300 → $483,200 (+50.4%)
Median gross rent	$1,337 → $1,727 (+29.2%)	$1,286 → $1,637 (+27.3%)

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

SeaTac

Population

29,01931,143

Median household income

$63,009$76,517

Median home value

$321,300$483,200

Median gross rent

$1,286$1,637

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Des Moines	SeaTac
Under 5	6.8%	6.0%
5 to 17	14.6%	17.5%
18 to 24	8.6%	7.3%
25 to 34	15.6%	16.2%
35 to 44	15.1%	17.6%
45 to 54	11.8%	10.9%
55 to 64	11.3%	11.2%
65 to 74	8.1%	8.5%
75 and over	8.0%	4.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Des Moines	SeaTac
White (non-Hispanic)	45.9%	29.3%
Black or African American	10.8%	23.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.3%
Asian	12.0%	15.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	1.6%	1.5%
Some other race	0.2%	0.3%
Two or more races	8.4%	6.2%
Hispanic or Latino	20.9%	22.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Des Moines	SeaTac
No high school diploma	10.9%	16.1%
High school graduate	25.2%	28.2%
Some college or associate's	30.6%	29.0%
Bachelor's degree	22.2%	20.0%
Graduate or professional degree	11.0%	6.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Des Moines	SeaTac
Drove alone	70.1%	60.0%
Carpooled	8.4%	15.7%
Public transit	6.1%	6.9%
Walked	2.0%	4.3%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	12.6%	10.8%
Other means	0.6%	2.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Des Moines	SeaTac
1-unit, detached	57.6%	43.7%
1-unit, attached	2.0%	2.7%
2 to 4 units	8.2%	6.8%
5 to 19 units	15.6%	22.1%
20 or more units	15.0%	19.5%
Mobile home & other	1.6%	5.2%

Poverty & households

	Des Moines	SeaTac
Poverty rate	10.7%	10.4%
Average household size	2.63	2.57
Mean commute (minutes)	31	26
Median year structure built	1974	1971