Des Moines

Life quality score

City ranking

Housing

7
126/265
Details
Large apartment$1300.00
Medium apartment$1000.00
Rent index [score]0.66
Small apartment$800.00

Cost of Living

6
92/248
Details
5km taxi ride$7.30
A Cappuccino$4.20
A beer$1.90
A kilogram of Apples$3.80
Bread$0.66
Inflation [score]0.63
Lunch$9.90
Monthly fitness club membership$35.00
Monthly public transport$51.00
Movie ticket$9.70
Price of a meal at a restaurant$61.48

Startups

3
208/264
Details
Average monthly increase in number of startups [score]0.10
Coworking spaces [score]0.45
Coworking spaces on WorkFrom.co12
Meetups [score]0.17
Meetups groups30
Meetups members5902
Number of investors21
Number of startup events in the last 12 months296
Number of upcoming meetup events26
Startup climate scene [score]0.31
Startup events175
Startup events [score]0.76
Startups [score]0.48
Total number of startups83

Venture Capital

2
164/192
Details
Venture capital [score]0.18

Travel Connectivity

1
228/266
Details
Airport hub17
Airport hub [score]0.16
Intercity train connectivity [score]0.12

Commute

2
238/255
Details
Human city pagehttp://cities.human.co/details/United_States/Des_Moines
Traffic handling [score]0.83

Business Freedom

9
69/264
Details
Business freedom84.70
Business freedom [score]0.86
Freedom from corruption74.00
Freedom from corruption [score]0.79
Lack of labor restrictions91.40
Lack of labor restrictions [score]1.00
Time to open a business5.60
Time to open a business [score]0.95

Safety

7
148/266
Details
Crime rate [score]0.68
Gun-related deaths per 100,000 residents per year8
Guns per 100 residents52
Lack of gun related deaths [score]0.78
Lack of guns [score]0.71
Lack of guns and gun-related deaths [score]0.75

Healthcare

9
58/265
Details
Healthcare expenditure [score]0.99
Healthcare quality [score]0.90
Life expectancy (years)79.28
Life expectancy [score]0.76

Education

4
165/240
Details
Country mean scores in PISA math test478.04
Country mean scores in PISA reading test497.58
Country mean scores in PISA science test497.41
PISA math ranking (high school)30
PISA ranking24
PISA ranking (high school) [score]0.72
PISA reading (high school)16
PISA science (high school)19
Percent of happy students0.77
Percent of low performers in PISA math test0.26
Percent of low performers in PISA reading test0.17
Percent of low performers in PISA science test0.18
Percent of top performers in PISA math test0.09
Percent of top performers in PISA reading test0.08
Percent of top performers in PISA science test0.07

Environmental Quality

9
26/266
Details
Air quality [score]1.00
Cleanliness [score]1.00
Drinking water quality [score]0.81
Urban greenery [score]0.67

Economy

7
16/263
Details
Currency exchange rate per US dollar for urban area1.00
Currency for urban areaUSD
GDP growth rate0.02
GDP growth rate [score]0.43
GDP per capita$54596.65
GDP per capita [score]0.87

Taxation

4
151/266
Details
Effective company profit tax rate on payouts as dividends [score]0.54
Income tax level [score]0.33
Profit tax (% of profit)0.44
Time overhead to file company taxes175
VAT (Sales Tax)0.06

Internet Access

6
111/266
Details
Download speed (Mbps)36.56
Internet access (download) [score]0.53
Internet access (upload) [score]0.61
Upload speed (Mbps)16.17

Leisure & Culture

6
117/264
Details
Art galleries91
Art galleries [score]0.71
Cinemas54
Cinemas [score]0.60
Comedy clubs29
Comedy clubs [score]0.80
Concert venues111
Concerts [score]0.76
Historical sites62
Historical sites [score]0.61
Museums27
Museums [score]0.60
Performing art venues122
Performing arts [score]0.66
Sport venues43
Sports [score]0.70
Zoos11
Zoos [score]0.83

Tolerance

8
44/266
Details
LGBT Equality Index93.13
LGBT Equality Index [score]0.96
LGBT adoption rights✔ Legal
LGBT age of consent✔ Equal
LGBT blood donation regulations✖ Banned (indefinite deferral)
LGBT conversion therapy regulationsAmbiguous
LGBT discrimination legality✔ Illegal
LGBT employment discrimination legality✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
LGBT gender changing rights✔ Legal, but requires surgery
LGBT homosexuality rights✔ Legal
LGBT housing discrimination legality✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
LGBT marriage rights✔ Legal
Tolerance towards minorities [score]0.74

Outdoors

3
220/266
Details
Urban area elevation (meters)266.00
Water access [score]0.66
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Cost of living

Costs of living in Des Moines are in the 92nd place of all 248 Teleport cities. Sign up for free to get access to our cost of living index and use our international  cost of living calculator to do cost comparison by city.

Housing costs (USD)

$650$940
$800
Median rent for
apartments in city center

Daily living costs (USD)

Monthly fitness club membership$35
Movie ticket$10
Broadband internet connection$41
Monthly public transport$51
Lunch$10
-36%
compared to
San Francisco
See more prices and detailed cost of living data in Des Moines

Job salary calculator

Software Engineer salaries in Des Moines are above average. For this job type, Des Moines ranks 74th for salaries among 265 cities. Get access to our salary comparison calculator by signing up. Compare salaries city by city with our free salary wizard and convert your own salary to a local salary in Des Moines.

Estimated annual salary (in USD)

$59,548
Median salary
See more details and salary rankings for all job types in Des Moines

Locals review Des Moines

Do locals recommend living in Des Moines?

What could Des Moines do better?#improveDesMoines

How could Des Moines improve to make it a more liveable city? We will make sure that the local government will know about the suggestions that reach enough votes*.
*Suggestions will be delivered to: Mayor of Des Moines - Frank Cownie
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something that can be improved about your city.

What makes Des Moines a special place?#praiseDesMoines

Is Des Moines a great place to live? What makes it special for you? What makes it liveable? What should others know about? Why should they move here? Why do you love it?
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something nice about your city.

Taxation

Personal taxation

Effective income tax rate

14%
For annual salary of $40000
20%
For annual salary of $80000

Value added tax (VAT)

6%
Standard tax rate. Different rates might apply for certain product categories.

Compared to other cities

155/266

Corporate taxation

Compared to other cities

113/263
See more details on taxation in Des Moines
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Safety

Overall crime rates

Homicide
High
6/8
Assault
Very Low
12/51
Theft
Very Low
13/49
Motor vehicle theft
Very Low
8/24

Crime rate development in the last 6 months

Change in the last 6 months

  • Assault-38%
  • Theft-29%

Gun crimes & Ownership

52.43
Guns per 100 people
8.19
Gun deaths per 100k people / year
HIGH GUN CRIMELOW GUN CRIMEFEW GUNSMANY GUNS
North America
Europe
Asia
South America
Africa
Oceania

Overall crime rate city ranking

The overall crime rate puts Des Moines in position 94 of 266 Teleport Cities in a ranking for the safest cities.

WORSTBEST
See more details on gun crime and safety in Des Moines

Visa

For visits up to 90 days

Required with citizenship of
Get more information about visas in Des Moines here
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Explore the streets of Des Moines

People in Des Moines

Population of Des Moines

409,200
520 /km²
187/264
Density (people per unit of area)
7%
Growth in 2015-2020
Des Moines

Demographics of United States

Median age
38
Elderly people
15%
Life expectancy at birth
80
GDP per capita (in USD)
$54,597
12/263
Unemployment
5%
110/264

Languages

English proficiency score
100
1/228
Common spoken languages
English

Friends living in Des Moines

Find out which of your friends are living in Des Moines. Nothing is better than knowing a local 😉

Teleport Users  X  Des Moines

Teleport users who are      Des Moines

Work in:

Business Analyst
11.11%
Marketing Manager
11.11%
Founder
11.11%
Data Scientist
11.11%
Copywriter
11.11%
Web Developer
11.11%
Electrical Engineer
11.11%
Other
22.22%

Come from:

Climate

Average number of clear days per year

105

Climate type

Hot Summer Continental

Average daily maximum temperature

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On living in Des Moines

Des Moines, capital of Iowa, is in the western region of the American Midwest.

Des Moines is the largest city in Iowa and the annual site of the Iowa State Fair. Because of Iowa's early presidential caucus date, the city is also a hotbed of political dreams and discourse every four years when presidential candidates tour the state and have multiple debates within the city.

The meaning of 'Des Moines' itself is not clear as local Native Americans, the Moingona, had already been using a term (which meant 'river of the mounds') due to the number of burial mounds which were popular in the area. French Trappist Monks (Moines de la Trappe) called their settlement areas at the mouth of the Des Moines River 'La Riviere des Moines' which, in English, translates to 'the river of the monks.' "De Moyn," which means "middle," may have been used on the map of explorer Jacques Marquette to help others locate the Des Moines River-area (equidistant between the larger Mississippi and Missouri rivers). "Des Moines," today pronounced "duh MOIN," is located at the junction of the Des Moines River and the Raccoon River.

Read more

Good Country Index

Every city comes with a country. How is this one doing in terms of giving back to the global community? Our friends at The Good Country Index measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away, relative to its size.

Overall ranking

United States
23rd from a total of 163 countries

World Order

26th

Refugees hosted

Refugees generated

Charity giving

Birth rate

UN Treaties signed

International Peace & Security

66th

Dues in arrears to UN peace keeping budgets

International violent conflict

Peacekeeping troops

Arms exports

Internet security (2014)

Planet & Climate

34th

Ecological footprint

Reforestation since 1992

Hazardous pesticides exports

CO2 emissions

Ozone

Prosperity & Equality

46th

Development assistance

FDI outflows

Fairtrade market size

UN volunteers abroad

Open trading

Culture

53rd

Freedom of movement

Press freedom

Creative services exports

UNESCO dues in arrears as % of contribution

Creative goods exports

Science & Technology

20th

Nobel prizes

Patents

Journal exports

International publications

International Students

Health & Wellbeing

12th

Pharmaceutical exports

Voluntary excess donations to the WHO

Food aid

Humanitarian aid donations

International Health Regulations Compliance

See details ▽

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