Des Moines County vs Warren County

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

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

Warren County has the higher population (53,484 vs 38,597 in Des Moines County). Warren County has the higher median household income ($92,990 vs $60,662 in Des Moines County). Warren County has the higher median home value ($252,800 vs $137,000 in Des Moines County).

Population, income & housing

	Des Moines County	Warren County
Population	38,597	53,484
Median age	42.2 yrs	38.7 yrs
Median household income	$60,662	$92,990
Median home value	$137,000	$252,800
Median gross rent	$908	$975
Housing units	18,778	21,473
Homeownership rate	72.7%	83.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.8%	32.7%
Unemployment rate	3.2%	3.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Des Moines County	Warren County
Population	39,386 → 38,597 (-2.0%)	50,076 → 53,484 (+6.8%)
Median household income	$51,267 → $60,662 (+18.3%)	$77,048 → $92,990 (+20.7%)
Median home value	$108,500 → $137,000 (+26.3%)	$187,200 → $252,800 (+35.0%)
Median gross rent	$778 → $908 (+16.7%)	$807 → $975 (+20.8%)

Des Moines County

Population

39,38638,597

Median household income

$51,267$60,662

Median home value

$108,500$137,000

Median gross rent

$778$908

Warren County

Population

50,07653,484

Median household income

$77,048$92,990

Median home value

$187,200$252,800

Median gross rent

$807$975

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Des Moines County	Warren County
Under 5	5.6%	5.8%
5 to 17	16.3%	18.9%
18 to 24	8.3%	8.9%
25 to 34	11.4%	11.3%
35 to 44	12.0%	13.9%
45 to 54	11.4%	12.1%
55 to 64	13.9%	12.6%
65 to 74	12.4%	9.7%
75 and over	8.7%	6.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Des Moines County	Warren County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.2%	92.5%
Black or African American	4.2%	0.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	1.1%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	5.8%	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	3.5%	3.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Des Moines County	Warren County
No high school diploma	6.0%	3.3%
High school graduate	36.3%	29.0%
Some college or associate's	33.9%	35.0%
Bachelor's degree	15.8%	22.6%
Graduate or professional degree	8.0%	10.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Des Moines County	Warren County
Drove alone	81.9%	76.7%
Carpooled	10.0%	6.0%
Public transit	0.7%	0.0%
Walked	1.8%	2.6%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.1%
Worked from home	4.3%	13.6%
Other means	1.1%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Des Moines County	Warren County
1-unit, detached	78.3%	76.8%
1-unit, attached	2.9%	6.0%
2 to 4 units	6.6%	3.7%
5 to 19 units	4.9%	6.1%
20 or more units	3.5%	4.1%
Mobile home & other	3.8%	3.4%

Poverty & households

	Des Moines County	Warren County
Poverty rate	14.1%	5.4%
Average household size	2.21	2.57
Mean commute (minutes)	19	24
Median year structure built	1958	1984