What salary do you need to live in Des Moines, IA?

What housing costs in Des Moines

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro at $962 for a one-bedroom, $1,166 for a two-bedroom and $1,475 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $204 a month, and the third bedroom another $309.

Homeowners in Des Moines report a median home value of $267,400. Against a median household income of $85,890, the ratio is 3.1× — one of the gentler home-price-to-income ratios in the country.

BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 91.7, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 8.3% less than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $109,050 would at average US prices.

How much you need to earn in Des Moines

For two bedrooms, $129,000 is where Des Moines turns Comfortable. Below that, $64,000 marks the start of Okay and $32,000 the start of Tight; under $32,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 11% of gross pay.

Reaching Royal takes $356,000 — 2.8× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

How they were found: the same scoring function the calculator runs was evaluated at rising incomes until each cutoff was crossed, and the crossing rounded up to a whole $1,000.

Des Moines at four common salaries

Choosing a bigger place in Des Moines at $75,000 trims the score from 53 to 46 without leaving Okay.

Of the four salaries, $150,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $100,000 still lands at Okay.

Des Moines compared with every US metro

Out of 387 metros, Des Moines has the 252nd highest price parity and the 169th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it in the middle half on overall prices and in the middle half on rent.

Next to Des Moines on the national rent ranking: Rapid City, SD ($1,175) and Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI ($1,166).

Des Moines vs. the rest of Iowa

Compared with Iowa as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Des Moines is 18% higher ($1,166 vs. $989) and the median home is 29% higher ($267,400 vs. $208,000).

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $96,000 — below Des Moines's $129,000 line.

If Des Moines is on your list, Omaha, NE-IA, Iowa City, IA, and Sioux City, IA-NE-SD are the most similar Iowa metros by two-bedroom rent and price level; the table shows where each turns Comfortable.

The median Des Moines household

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $85,890, which grades Okay (53) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. That falls $43,110 short of the $129,000 Comfortable line, a reminder that the typical household here spends a larger share on housing than the Comfortable band allows. For Iowa as a whole, the median household income of $75,059 scores 58 against statewide rents. A household figure may pool several earners, unlike a single salary.

All figures are pre-tax estimates from public data, not financial advice.