A market of 731,120 residents, ranked 81st among the 387 metropolitan areas in the country. Below: who lives here, which trades are crowded, and where a local advertiser can gain ground.
Its principal cities are Des Moines and West Des Moines.
The median household in Des Moines, IA earns $85,890 a year, 6 percent above the national figure (the US median is $80,734). The median home value of $267,400 is 20 percent below the national figure. For a business that sells to homeowners, that combination sets the ceiling on what a job is worth.
The household mix in brief. The share of adults with a bachelor's or above is 39.7%, 4 points above the US share. The civilian labor force numbers 404,815 people with unemployment at 4%, 1 points below the US share. Residents skew younger than the national median: 36.8 years, 2.1 years below the national median. Owners occupy 69.5% of homes, 4 points above the US share.
Against the state as a whole, the median income is 14 percent higher than the Iowa figure, the median home value is 29 percent higher than the Iowa figure, and the number of businesses per resident is about the same as the Iowa figure; see the Iowa page for the full figures.
There are 18,946 employer businesses in Des Moines, IA. That works out to 25.9 businesses per 1,000 residents, 4 percent above the national figure (the national rate is 25 per 1,000). Of those, 990 are home-services contractors (plumbing and HVAC, electrical, roofing, concrete, specialty trades and landscaping), a 5.2% share of the business base, about the same as the US share. The busiest category listed below is restaurants (1,245 establishments).
| Business type | Establishments | Per 100k residents | Share ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-storage facilities | 21 | 2.9 | 0.50× |
| Physicians' offices | 294 | 40.2 | 0.60× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 136 | 18.6 | 0.60× |
| Dentists | 241 | 33 | 0.78× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 216 | 29.5 | 0.86× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 1,245 | 170.3 | 0.89× |
| General freight trucking | 236 | 32.3 | 0.89× |
| General automotive repair | 173 | 23.7 | 0.90× |
| Electrical contractors | 180 | 24.6 | 0.95× |
| Legal services | 395 | 54 | 0.96× |
| Child day care services | 194 | 26.5 | 1.04× |
| Landscaping services | 298 | 40.8 | 1.11× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 110 | 15 | 1.14× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 24 | 3.3 | 1.14× |
| Personal care services (all) | 432 | 59.1 | 1.19× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 379 | 51.8 | 1.23× |
| Automobile dealers | 132 | 18.1 | 1.24× |
| Beauty salons | 249 | 34.1 | 1.31× |
| Roofing contractors | 84 | 11.5 | 1.45× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 102 | 14 | 1.93× |
The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).
Against the US mix, concrete contractors, roofing contractors, beauty salons and automobile dealers are over-represented. The sharpest example is concrete contractors: 102 establishments, 1.9 times the share seen nationally. Fewer than the national pattern would suggest: self-storage operators, physicians' offices, grocery stores and dentists. Self-storage operators are the thinnest at 21, about half of the national share. In line with the country: plumbing and HVAC contractors, electrical contractors and specialty trade contractors.
Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (170.3 per 100,000), with personal care services and legal services next. The most numerous of the listed trades: restaurants with 1,245 establishments, then personal care services (432) and legal services (395). Sector view: the home-services trades index at about the same as the national share, medical and dental practices at about 67% of.
When concrete contractors, roofing contractors and beauty salons are this common, customers compare. That makes the review profile and the speed of the first reply the deciding factors, and it makes conversion tracking essential so budget flows to the searches that turn into booked work. A business in self-storage operators, physicians' offices and grocery stores enters a lightly contested auction. That is the time to build organic visibility and a review base before the category fills in. With 69.5% of homes owner-occupied, the people searching for a plumber or a roofer here are usually the ones paying the bill, which shortens the sales cycle. Younger residents (median age 2.1 years below the national median) split their attention between search, social feeds and AI assistants, so the presence has to be in all three.
What YelloPost runs for businesses in a market shaped like Des Moines, IA.
Campaigns on Google fenced to the service area and judged on booked work.
Listing management for the map results that most local searches start and end with.
Ranking for the service-and-town searches without paying per click.
Design and build of a site that turns local traffic into leads.
A site assistant that answers questions and captures the lead at any hour.
Facebook and Instagram campaigns aimed at the households in Des Moines, IA most likely to need the service.
Tell us the trade and the area; we will show you what the competition looks like and what it takes to be found.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023.