Polk County · Iowa
Des Moines, IA jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Des Moines, IA earn a median of $41,192 a year, 8% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 5.7% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 19.8% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $41,192#53 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 5.7%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 70.7%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 112,654Civilian employed, age 16+
What Des Moines does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance19.8%
- Professional, scientific & management12.1%
- Finance, insurance & real estate11.5%
- Retail trade11.2%
- Manufacturing10.8%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food9.2%
- Construction7.8%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities5.4%
- Other services, except public administration4.4%
- Public administration3.2%
- Wholesale trade2.4%
- Information1.5%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.8%
Related data for Des Moines
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.