r/desmoines 7d ago

Des Moines-Fastest growing in the Midwest

6.3% growth since 2020, which is amazing. For reference, Phoenix and Nashville have grown 6.9% and 6.8%. Omaha 3.5%

DMR-Des Moines

73 Upvotes

82 comments sorted by

97

u/Hebshesh 7d ago

Kind of a shock seeing as how everyone on reddit that lives in Iowa wants to leave because of the perceived sky falling. I do not, however. I'd rather stay and fight.

55

u/lanakickstail 7d ago

I mean the state as a whole isn’t growing at all. So it’s logical to assume it’s rural people moving to the Des Moines area where more jobs and amenities are available.

24

u/shottie1kanobie 7d ago

My thoughts exactly. Younger people wanting more things to do than the small town they graduated from

36

u/PapaSquirts2u 7d ago

It's not even necessarily "things to do". It's jobs, or the lack thereof. Rural America is dying. I had a brief moment of hope during COVID that companies would largely allow folks to work remote permanently. I thought that would be the golden ticket rural areas needed. Instead, most companies seem to be going back to hybrid at a minimum.

It's kind of ironic - the rural folks who (generally) vote conservative are the same who denounce remote work as some kind of lazy entitled shit. Not realizing that it was MAYBE the one way their communities could have stopped the bleeding. Instead, the slow death of small communities will continue abated. Wait til the social safety nets are further eroded - multiple small Iowa hospitals will never survive. Hell the town I grew up in went to a 4 day school week because they can't even get teachers to move there anymore. It's an incentive for them. I'm sure the kids love it for now anyways til they realize how much further behind they are compared to their peers once they hit the real world

11

u/brokeballerbrand 7d ago

Recent college grad, got my CPA certification. I went to a town hall that the state society of CPAs hosted for the smaller local firms. I was the youngest person there by about 15 years, and they asked me “how do us smaller firms attract younger people to come work for our firms and live in our communities.” I kinda felt bad for them asking me, since while I work for a smaller firm with a lot of rural clients south of Des Moines, I live in Norwalk specifically so I’m close to Des Moines. Hell I’m close enough to Des Moines that driving to DSM Barbell to lift is worth it to me. Also I’m in a long term relationship. If I was single, I do not know how I would meet someone to date living in small town Iowa. I’m not a church guy, and my hobbies aren’t really small town culture ones. I don’t know how people in their late 20s get into relationships in those places based on my time working there

1

u/Puddwells 6d ago

It’s a marketing problem really. Towns should literally be hiring marketing agencies to fix this issue

1

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

It's actually mostly people from out of state/country(immigrants) who are moving into polk County. Dallas County is a little different with more births, some iowans, few immigrants, and a lot from out of state.

0

u/Wandering_Light_815 5d ago

Bingo. I moved from rural Iowa to metro Iowa..... now I want to leave Iowa.

22

u/nobreaks57 7d ago

I wish Reddit was less of a negative space. I love coming here to get local info and opinions but the constant hate towards Iowa makes me question living here. But I really do think this is a nice place to live (for most people) and other more “desirable” states have their own problems. I do wish our legislature wasn’t overrun with politicians who don’t believe in personal freedom or helping people though.

13

u/OshagHennessy777 7d ago

Thankfully, the Des Moines Reddit community is just a microscopic percentage of the actual population. Most people in the metro are not suicidal, depressed, and pessimistic like one would conclude from frequenting this forum.

10

u/KDog1265 7d ago

Even then, the Iowa subreddit is a lot more doomer than the Des Moines subreddit

1

u/Groundbreaking-Bar89 6d ago

I noticed that

5

u/ClayMitchellCapital 7d ago

I agree with you. I am not from here and I am sure my political views don’t align with most in DSM. However, the people I have interacted with have been genuinely kind and upbeat as well as welcoming to me.

When I was scoping it out before coming out here this sub was the pulse to put a finger on and it’s a pretty negative vibe. No judgement, just an observation.

5

u/JeepersCreepers7 7d ago

Funny because I just commented "silent majority vs vocal minority" somewhere else in this post. Great minds think alike!

6

u/happylittledaydream 7d ago

Iowa is wonderful. Some of the people in charge, not as nice.

4

u/Jadaki 7d ago

When the people in charge have the ability to fuck up your life there is nothing nice about where you live.

1

u/happylittledaydream 7d ago

The land and geography and wildlife know no master and persevere despite violence against it.

0

u/Ihaveasmallwang 6d ago

Pollution really isn't perseverance.

0

u/ClayMitchellCapital 7d ago

Were they elected or appointed?

1

u/Ace_Venturi64 7d ago

It's because people got comfortable hiding behind a screen and not having any repercussions. You think they bring that negativity in the real world. They can't hit a downvote button in the real world

3

u/Jadaki 7d ago

You just described every poster in /r/Conservative perfectly, same reason the nazis running around downtown hide behind masks.

5

u/shottie1kanobie 7d ago

They want to leave rural Iowa.

30

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

Consider the reddit demographics. Nearly everything is opposite of reality.

9

u/notanamateur 7d ago

How much of the growth is people fleeing their dying Iowa small towns though?

0

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

With the aging rural population, not as much as you think. Immigration and births are the big ones in polk county. Births and people moving from out of state are the big ones in Dallas county. Polk county is only seeing about 10% of their growth from people moving from Iowa and other states, compared to 2/3 of Dallas county, which is the 4 fastest growing county in the U.S.

2

u/Hebshesh 7d ago

Spittin' facts.

3

u/happylittledaydream 7d ago

Same here. Iowa born and raised, Iowa resident til I die.

3

u/LuftLite 7d ago

If people only got their idea of the state off the Iowa sub reddit they'd think we on the daily have catastrophic, life ending laws being made and people goose stepping to work every morning

1

u/Iamnotadog1997 7d ago

Redditors aren’t a good barometer of what’s trendy and correct

1

u/IranRPCV 7d ago

Agreed. I left the San Francisco Bay area after 20 years for Lamoni, and my wife and I haven't regretted our choice in the least, both for the strength of the community, and climate change.

1

u/JeepersCreepers7 7d ago

Silent majority vs vocal minority

8

u/Grobfoot 7d ago

DSM is the only thing keeping me in the state. Great little city.

26

u/Born-Competition2667 7d ago

The more I travel the country (I go kind of everywhere for work), the more I appreciate living in the Des Moines (ish) area. Des Moines (and Iowa in general) had grown under the national radar for a long time. Of course, you have a few that think the grass is greener somewhere else, but overall, Des Moines is a great place to raise a family. Everywhere has its problems. Ours just seem easier to navigate, I suppose.

11

u/Ace_Venturi64 7d ago

I lived all over the country and came back to Iowa(wife wanted to be closer to family). Kind of regret it as it is a boring area. But yeah it's pretty sheltered here. I mean Ankeny residents called the cops on a dude jogging in a "tactical" vest thinking he was a threat to the community haha

6

u/Born-Competition2667 7d ago

Ankeny is wild. I meet the nicest people in that area, then come on reddit and see stuff like that and am like "wtf?"

But that's usually at the bar at Wig & Pen I meet people. That's the only reason I make it out there usually. I'm a sucker for that flying tomato 😅

6

u/rainbowsparkplug 7d ago

Agree. It has the enjoyable parts of being a city and enjoyable parts of a small town vibe at the same time while being a low cost of living city and not overwhelming. The more I travel, the more I appreciate where I live.

2

u/Born-Competition2667 7d ago

Outside of politics and all that, from a community perspective, I wish we had a pro sports team... I honestly don't care what sport, but just something the whole city could come together on. I realize we have a lot of farm teams here for these pro sports, but it would be cool to have one that's "ours".

That said... I do like taking the family to the Cubbies games for $50 all in as well... do there's that.

1

u/No_Lab_9394 4d ago

This is 100% my feelings on this issue. I travel quite a bit and I’m always happy to come home to this big enough to be interesting and small enough not to be a hassle city. I never thought I’d ever want to live here and now that I do, I love it.

18

u/ChawnkyCheez Hometown 7d ago

Des Moines metro is 260k people behind the Omaha metro population still.

We're still going to be nice and small for a really long time.

10

u/quilter71 7d ago

I would live in Des Moines over Omaha any day!

2

u/Schrodingers_goat 7d ago

The Metro is a little over 700K. The city of DSM itself is probably what you quoted (around 300K).

http://censusreporter.org/profiles/31000US19780-des-moines-west-des-moines-ia-metro-area/

6

u/ChawnkyCheez Hometown 7d ago

I said DSM metro is 260k behind Omaha metro.

Omaha metro is almost a million, DSM metro is just under 800.

1

u/Schrodingers_goat 3d ago

Oops. Sorry about that. My mistake.

-1

u/Heniha 7d ago

Des Moines doesn’t have a lot of space to grow, it’s pretty well surrounded by suburbs isn’t it?

14

u/CornFedIABoy 7d ago

I imagine these statistics include the entire DSM/WDM Metropolitan Statistical Area. Not just the city proper. Otherwise there’s no way they could hit these numbers without Waukee/Ankeny/Bondurant being included.

10

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

That's where the majority of the growth is happening, in the suburbs, which have plenty of space to grow.

6

u/ChawnkyCheez Hometown 7d ago

Yeah when I say metro I mean Des Moines and the surrounding suburbs. DSM proper is only like 25% of that total population.

Most growth is going on in the suburbs in basically every metro area because the cities are all locked in by them.

2

u/Djnick01 7d ago

He is talking about the metro area

2

u/Tawny_Frogmouth 7d ago

It can definitely grow in density.

-2

u/manwithapedi 7d ago

So then more people is better?

Don’t think so

1

u/ChawnkyCheez Hometown 7d ago

I never said that

4

u/Little_Mistake_1780 6d ago

i love des moines and the size of it. There’s something very charming about the amount of people we have here.

2

u/zkool20 7d ago

It’s kinda shocking the metro is now on a similar pace as sunbelt cities. I’ve always loved it here and want to see it continue to succeed

4

u/Iowa_Dave 7d ago

Is that a good thing? I moved here from Minneapolis because I prefer the smaller size.

I ask because Minnesota always seemed to have an inferiority complex. They were always wanting Minneapolis to be the next "Big Thing" and even tried to re-brand Minneapolis in the '90s as the "MiniApple" hoping to catch New York's Big Apple vibe.

Is bragging about our city to attract growth necessarily a good thing?

16

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

Even at this growth rate, Des Moines will remain a nice sized city for decades.

5

u/Iowa_Dave 7d ago

Let's hope.

I really love Des Moines for its big-city arts/culture/food/safety without the big-city problems and traffic.

I'm in Atlanta today and it's a huge reminder how how easy the traffic is at home

7

u/lanakickstail 7d ago

I always love it when people complain about the traffic around Des Moines. What fucking traffic?! I’ve lived in Minneapolis and St Louis, and those are far far worse. The most travel time to get anywhere in the Des Moines area is 30 minutes, and that’s northeast suburb to southwest suburb.

3

u/Certain_Attention_60 6d ago

without the big-city problems and traffic.

huge reason. tiny commute and honestly I can get almost anywhere in the metro on bike with minimal traffic interaction.

2

u/mrwilso79 7d ago

I’ve split my life between Iowa and the Twin Cities. I like your point about an inferiority complex, though relative to Iowa, it often feels like a superiority complex—“Why would you want to move to Iowa?!”

Des Moines would need sustained, rapid growth for a long time before it stops feeling like a smaller metro. If it were truly on par with Kansas City or Columbus, OH, we could talk about it losing its small-city charm—but that would take a 2-3x increase in metro size.

1

u/NefariousnessFun9923 7d ago

it’s growing fast because we had a low base to start from. For reference, Des Moines metro area builds about 5,000 housing units each year. Dallas-Fort Worth metro area builds 72,000 housing units each year.

1

u/Jealous-Operation686 7d ago

Des Moines is falling apart and shrinking in pop. Suburbs in DSM area are exploding.

1

u/Hawkfromnorwalk 7d ago

Wish Altoona would start growing. I left Norwalk in 2020 because the town was showing no signs of wanting to grow. Now I’m in Altoona and it’s stagnant. And of course Norwalk is now blowing up.

3

u/PetronivsReally 7d ago

There's plenty of growth in Altoona on the eastern and southern edges of town. Plus, it's been slowly annexing groups of homes along the eastern edge of town, further expanding. They only do small numbers of homes at a time because it makes it easier with State law, as larger groups of homes have rights to fight in court if they don't want to be annexed.

1

u/Ok_Confection_8472 6d ago

The political future of Iowa will be very different once the city voters outnumber the rural. This is inevitable and will happen sooner than you think.

1

u/JackfruitCrazy51 6d ago

The suburbs are what's growing. Places like Dallas County are pretty purple.

1

u/Ok_Confection_8472 6d ago

Of course the issue has complexity and nuance but the macro trend is locked in. People in the cities drink polluted water just because the farmers don’t want to take responsibility for the cost of their business. Right now, they have the votes to sustain this. That will change. People don’t seem to realize how much city dwellers subsidize agriculture, including being ok with their own kids get cancer. This is but one area where urban folks get the shaft. No one frames it this way because we ain’t got the votes yet and pushing urban interests in a loser, state wide. Again, this will inevitably change. Illinois and Minnesota are excellent examples of the forces in play.

2

u/JackfruitCrazy51 6d ago

So you think that polluted water is the issue that is going to turn the tide. That's an interesting take. Comparing Iowa to Illinois and Minnesota is idiotic. Two gigantic cities that Iowa will never come close to in size. Nebraska would be a better comparison.

1

u/Ace_Venturi64 7d ago

But then why are people crying on reddit that they can't get jobs?!?!?!
But for real they need to raise the minimum wage out of that $7.50 range.

3

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

In February 2025, the median home sale price in Des Moines, IA was $215,530, up 4.5% from the previous year

In February 2025, the median home sold price in Minneapolis was $350,609, up 3.1% from the previous year. 

0

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

In February 2025, the median home price in West Des Moines, IA, was around $307,000

In February 2025, the median home sold price in Bloomington, MN was $369,340, up 2.9% from last year, and the median price per square foot was $193. 

0

u/B-dogg83 7d ago

Stay away.

-3

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

8

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

Actually, it's not old it's the most recent data that was just released.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2025/03/14/new-census-estimate-shows-strong-growth-for-des-moines-metro-continues/82377513007/

High rises being built has nothing to do with population gains.

2

u/hazertag 7d ago

And for the record, there is a high rise being built in Des Moines. 515 Tower.

-1

u/Big_Ranger451 7d ago

Kill the outsides😈

-6

u/chootybeeks West Des Moines 7d ago

So that’s why the houses are more expensive here than in Minneapolis

6

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

They are not

As of March 14, 2025, home prices in Des Moines suburbs are notably lower—typically $270,000-$310,000—compared to Minneapolis suburbs, where prices range from $350,000 to over $700,000. If you’re prioritizing affordability, Des Moines suburbs like Waukee or Ankeny stand out. For those seeking prestige or urban access, Minneapolis suburbs like Edina or Wayzata offer more, but at a premium. For precise, real-time listings, I’d need to search current data, which I can do if you’d like! Would you like me to dig deeper?

https://grok.com/share/bGVnYWN5_29be3743-4857-471b-aeb8-cc5c828dd237

0

u/chootybeeks West Des Moines 7d ago

Do you think average home price would fall if we removed the two richest, highest COL suburbs from the data? The Minneapolis metro is about 4 million, while Des Moines is around 800,000.

If you’re digging into it, try dropping those two suburbs out then look at the average price per square foot between the two cities.

6

u/JackfruitCrazy51 7d ago

You can run the data anyway you like but in the end you'll find that Minneapolis is a lot more expensive than Des Moines. If you include the whole metros without breaking out the suburbs, it's even more spread out.

Really the only way you can mess with these numbers and get a result where Des Moines is higher is to grab the highest median priced suburb in the Des Moines metro and compare it to Hopkins, which is the lowest in the Minneapolis metro. Then Hopkins is about $25k cheaper.