West Des Moines.
Iowa·
Neighborhoods
POPMEDIAN
Iowa·
Iowa
Foundation
Daily Life
Money & Work
Fair Housing. Race, ethnicity, language, national origin, income, disability, household makeup, commute and vehicle access, home tenure, and similar characteristics shown anywhere in this report are descriptive context only — never used to rate, score, or rank a place. Using protected-class characteristics to evaluate a neighborhood may violate the Fair Housing Act.
Iowa·Polk County
16 tracts·69K people·$309K median·1,466/mi²
White 77 · Hispanic 6 · Asian 6 · Black 5 · Multiracial 4 · Other 0
Married couple 40 · Living alone 36 · Other 24
Professional 57 · Retail 15 · Health 13 · Leisure 7 · Manufacturing 5 · Public admin 1 · Other 2
Management · business · science · arts 54 · Sales · office 20 · Service 12 · Production · transport 9 · Construction · maintenance 4
Drive alone 71 · Work from home 18 · Carpool 14 · Walk 1 · Transit 1 · Bike 0
Rep-tract reading · same station-interpolated source as address reports
Rep-tract reading · FEMA National Risk Index, national ranks 0–100; the tick is the national median
Showing up to 10 schools per level · School assignment depends on the exact address; open a neighborhood or address report to see your assigned schools.
The median home value in West Des Moines is $309,000 (Census ACS) — 0.7× the US median of $458,812.
West Des Moines has 71,083 residents across 15 census tracts and 13 named neighborhoods (Census ACS).
The median age is 36.0; the population is 77.4% White, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 6.3% Asian, 5.0% Black, 4.3% Multiracial and 0.4% Other; the average household has 2.2 people; 54.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher; the poverty rate is 8.4% (Census ACS).
Woodland Hills Elementary School (86%), Brookview Elementary School (84%) and Jordan Creek Elementary School (83%) lead the elementary schools; Stilwell Junior High School is the middle school with reported scores (75%); Valley High School (66%) and Walnut Creek Campus (27%) lead the high schools. Average of ELA and math proficiency (state DOE / NCES).
Median gross rent is $1,237/month, 22% below the US median (Census ACS).
The median household income in West Des Moines is $86,594 a year, in line with the US median (Census ACS).
In West Des Moines, median rent is $1,237/month and the median home value is $309,000 (Census ACS).
West Des Moines reported 1.7 violent crimes and 22.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents (FBI UCR, 2023).
Summer highs average 84°F; winter lows average 16°F; there are 76 comfortable days a year; annual rainfall is 35 inches (NOAA GridMET).
The highest-rated natural hazards in West Des Moines are drought (93), tornado (91) and landslide (89), scored 0–100 against all US communities (FEMA National Risk Index). Peak ground shaking is 0.04g (USGS; 2% chance in 50 years).
In West Des Moines, 0.8% of workers walk to work (Census ACS).