Work & commute · Des Moines

Work & commute in Des Moines, IA

41% of Des Moines’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are West Des Moines (14%), Ankeny (6%) and Urbandale (6%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

41%

38,491 of 93,648 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 55,157 Des Moines residents head out of town to work, 38,491 work right here, and 84,818 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Des Moines.

55,157live here, work elsewhere

38,491live and work here

84,818work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Des Moines goes to work

Des Moines (in town)right here

41%38,491

West Des Moines9 mi away

14%12,953

Ankeny11 mi away

6%5,540

Urbandale9.8 mi away

6%5,399

Clive10.2 mi away

3%2,359

Altoona8.6 mi away

2%2,285

Johnston10.1 mi away

2%2,215

Grimes12.3 mi away

2%1,419

Bondurant12.1 mi away

2%1,409

Ames31.4 mi away

1%1,186

Everywhere elseother towns and states

22%20,392

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Des Moines commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

74%

13%

10%

74%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Des Moines is balanced between jobs and homes

1.32jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Des Moines are

123,309 jobs are based in Des Moines. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Des Moines’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Des Moines

123,309 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month69%

Jobs Des Moines residents hold

93,648 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−4%

Jobs based in Des Moines, 2013 → 2023: 128,850 → 123,309. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.