Des Moines County vs Webster County

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

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

Des Moines County has the higher population (38,597 vs 36,848 in Webster County). Webster County has the higher median household income ($68,054 vs $60,662 in Des Moines County). Webster County has the higher median home value ($138,500 vs $137,000 in Des Moines County).

Population, income & housing

	Des Moines County	Webster County
Population	38,597	36,848
Median age	42.2 yrs	39.8 yrs
Median household income	$60,662	$68,054
Median home value	$137,000	$138,500
Median gross rent	$908	$762
Housing units	18,778	17,053
Homeownership rate	72.7%	70.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.8%	20.5%
Unemployment rate	3.2%	3.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Des Moines County	Webster County
Population	39,386 → 38,597 (-2.0%)	36,545 → 36,848 (+0.8%)
Median household income	$51,267 → $60,662 (+18.3%)	$47,466 → $68,054 (+43.4%)
Median home value	$108,500 → $137,000 (+26.3%)	$99,100 → $138,500 (+39.8%)
Median gross rent	$778 → $908 (+16.7%)	$642 → $762 (+18.7%)

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

Webster County

Population

36,54536,848

Median household income

$47,466$68,054

Median home value

$99,100$138,500

Median gross rent

$642$762

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Des Moines County	Webster County
Under 5	5.6%	5.7%
5 to 17	16.3%	15.6%
18 to 24	8.3%	11.2%
25 to 34	11.4%	12.0%
35 to 44	12.0%	11.9%
45 to 54	11.4%	10.5%
55 to 64	13.9%	13.4%
65 to 74	12.4%	11.1%
75 and over	8.7%	8.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Des Moines County	Webster County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.2%	84.6%
Black or African American	4.2%	3.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	1.1%	1.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.4%
Two or more races	5.8%	4.5%
Hispanic or Latino	3.5%	6.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Des Moines County	Webster County
No high school diploma	6.0%	7.7%
High school graduate	36.3%	32.6%
Some college or associate's	33.9%	39.2%
Bachelor's degree	15.8%	15.3%
Graduate or professional degree	8.0%	5.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Des Moines County	Webster County
Drove alone	81.9%	83.2%
Carpooled	10.0%	7.5%
Public transit	0.7%	0.2%
Walked	1.8%	3.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	4.3%	4.0%
Other means	1.1%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Des Moines County	Webster County
1-unit, detached	78.3%	77.1%
1-unit, attached	2.9%	1.5%
2 to 4 units	6.6%	9.3%
5 to 19 units	4.9%	4.8%
20 or more units	3.5%	4.7%
Mobile home & other	3.8%	2.6%

Poverty & households

	Des Moines County	Webster County
Poverty rate	14.1%	11.7%
Average household size	2.21	2.18
Mean commute (minutes)	19	19
Median year structure built	1958	1957