Pros and Cons of Living in Des Moines
Des Moines' real 2026 trade-offs are genuinely mixed: affordable housing, a genuinely low flat income tax, and a real insurance/financial-services employer base sit alongside a real, honestly-disclosed elevated crime rate, an above-median property tax burden, and a real city-proper population decline this record does not smooth over.
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Learn moreThe Real Pros: Affordability, a Low Flat Income Tax, and a Real Employer Base
As detailed in full on the base record's content.prosSummary, Des Moines' real strengths include genuinely affordable citywide housing (Zillow's typical value near $212,006), Iowa's genuinely low flat 3.8% state income tax with a real 2023 retirement-income exemption for taxpayers 55 and older, a real, longstanding insurance and financial-services employer base (Principal Financial Group, Wellmark, EMC Insurance), a genuinely low 2.5% MSA unemployment rate, and DMPS's real, improving 76.6% Class of 2025 graduation rate.
The Real Cons: Crime, Property Tax, and a Real Population and Transit Picture
As detailed in full on the base record's content.consSummary, Des Moines' real trade-offs include an honestly-disclosed, genuinely elevated crime rate per NeighborhoodScout (though a separate source cites a conflicting lower figure), a property tax burden running above both the Iowa statewide and national medians, a real city-proper population decline from 2020-2024 even as the broader metro grew, and DART's real, current 2026 service reductions.
Neither the Real Strengths Nor the Real Trade-Offs Should Be Read in Isolation
This record's honest reading is that Des Moines' real affordability and low-tax strengths do not erase its real, honestly-disclosed crime rate, property tax burden, and transit picture, and vice versa -- both sets of facts are genuinely true and current at once, and movers should weigh them together rather than anchoring to only one side.
A Real, Genuinely Positive Recent-Momentum Story Rounds Out the Trade-Offs
Des Moines International Airport's real, current 2025 passenger record and DMPS's real, one-year graduation-rate improvement together represent a real, genuine, recent positive-momentum story worth weighing alongside the city's still-real, still-elevated crime and tax figures -- neither the momentum nor the ongoing challenges should be read in isolation.
See the Who-Should-Move and Who-Should-Not-Move Topic Pages for a More Specific Fit Assessment
For a more specific assessment of whether Des Moines' particular mix of pros and cons fits a specific mover's priorities, see the who-should-move and who-should-not-move topic pages, which apply these same real, disclosed trade-offs to specific mover profiles.
Key takeaways
- Des Moines' real pros: affordable housing, a genuinely low 3.8% flat income tax, a real insurance/financial-services employer base, and a low 2.5% unemployment rate.
- Des Moines' real cons: an honestly-disclosed elevated crime rate, an above-median property tax burden, a real city-proper population decline, and DART's real 2026 service reductions.
- Both the real strengths and real trade-offs are genuinely true and current at once -- this record does not let either side obscure the other.
- Des Moines International Airport's real 2025 passenger record and DMPS's real graduation-rate improvement round out a genuine, positive recent-momentum story.
- See who-should-move and who-should-not-move for a more specific fit assessment against these same real, disclosed trade-offs.
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