Cost of Living inDes Moines, IA, United States
Image credit: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant)
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). United States: $75,489/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 30% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Using the country-level NYC comparison for now. We do not have a defensible city-level aggregate cost index for this city yet.
Income Category
Happiness
6.7 / 10
#22 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-school quality, expat access, instruction language, and homeschool legality for relocating families.
Public schools
Public-schooling rules are set nationally for United States; Des Moines, IA-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Mixed public-school option
Expat access
Available to residents
conditionalInstruction
English
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
The United States has many excellent public schools, but quality varies sharply by district and neighborhood.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident families can use local public schools, but school quality depends heavily on district assignment and housing location.
🗺️ Homeschooling
Varies by stateHomeschooling is legal in all 50 US states but regulations vary dramatically. Some states (TX, AK, ID) have minimal oversight; others (NY, PA, MA) require notification, testing, and curriculum approval. Most worldschooling families establish residency in low-regulation states.
Homeschool legality in United States — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in United States.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$2,200-$5,700
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$2,750-$6,600
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Des Moines, IA is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in United States.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
StrongHigh national coverage, strong doctor availability, and deep nursing capacity support this rating.
Public care
GoodBroad public coverage, relatively low patient cost-sharing, and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong support this rating.
Private care
MixedA clearly private facility base help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
88/100
2023
Physicians
3.68/1k
2022
Hospital beds
2.68/1k
2022
Out of pocket
11%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
78.9 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
17/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
3.7/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base and multiple facilities have websites help, but price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in United States yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-07-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Information & Technology | $157,141/yr |
| Finance & Insurance | $125,473/yr |
| Professional & Scientific Services | $121,160/yr |
| Utilities | $116,932/yr |
| Manufacturing | $102,345/yr |
| Transport & Logistics | $96,414/yr |
| Mining & Quarrying | $94,633/yr |
| Healthcare & Social Work | $79,846/yr |
| Real Estate | $78,894/yr |
| Other Services | $77,847/yr |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | $75,590/yr |
| Education | $75,552/yr |
| Construction | $72,781/yr |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | $72,182/yr |
| Administrative & Support Services | $66,754/yr |
| Agriculture & Farming | $50,121/yr |
| Hospitality & Food Service | $39,561/yr |
2025 annual wages in Des Moines, IA, United States · Source: BLS OEWS
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Long-Term Visa Programs
investment
US EB-5 Immigrant Investor (Standard)Quick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Des Moines compared with the US?
Your money goes about 1.2x further in Des Moines than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for United States here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Des Moines cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Des Moines is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 30% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Des Moines. We are using the country-level cost index for United States here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Des Moines compare with New York City?
Rent in Des Moines is about 63% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for United States here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Des Moines?
Groceries in Des Moines are about 24% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 28% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for United States here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Des Moines, IA
Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, United States, sitting in the south-central part of the state at the confluence of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers. The city of about 214,000 anchors a metro of roughly 700,000 and is a national hub for insurance and financial services. Principal Financial Group is headquartered here alongside major operations of Wells Fargo, Nationwide, and EMC. Agribusiness tied to Iowa's corn and soybean dominance adds a second pillar. The humid continental climate brings cold snowy winters, hot summers, and severe-weather risk including tornadoes. English is universal. Des Moines offers some of the lowest housing costs of any U.S. state capital, short commutes, an international airport with domestic connections, and the political visibility tied to Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus tradition.
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