Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA Salaries
Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 91.7) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA moved from $50,450 in May 2024 to $51,820 in May 2025 (+2.7%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA sits -0.4 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Waiters and Waitresses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
Waiters and Waitresses publishes $20,410 here versus $35,230 nationally (-42.1%; 6,250metro-area jobs). Next is Bartenders at $22,340 locally versus $34,340 nationally (-34.9%).
- Waiters and Waitresses$20,410 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA sits 42.1% below the national Waiters and Waitresses median of $35,230 (6,250 published local jobs).
- Bartenders$22,340 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA sits 34.9% below the national Bartenders median of $34,340 (2,200 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$78,630 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA sits 19.4% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (8,130 published local jobs).
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$75,040 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA sits 17.6% above the national Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters median of $63,800 (2,150 published local jobs).
Waiters and Waitresses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 19780 · Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA $66K mean
MEAN-HIGH · RPP-LOW · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-HIGH #95/528
- RPP-LOW 91.7
- OCC-MOST 505 occs
- TOP-LEAD Emergency Medi… · $426K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE -0.4 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Cleveland, OH
- BOOK-FULL 494 rows · May 2025
Read with Cleveland, OH ($46 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Des Moines-West Des Moines
Where Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA already employs the upper wage tier
Financial Managers and Computer and Information Systems Managers lead published employment inside Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 3,800 jobs · $154,140
- 2. Computer and Information Systems Managers 2,050 jobs · $164,840
- 3. Lawyers 1,760 jobs · $134,560
- 4. Managers, All Other 1,420 jobs · $139,110
- 5. Chief Executives 1,230 jobs · $290,870
- 6. Sales Managers 1,200 jobs · $136,570
- 7. Marketing Managers 950 jobs · $135,140
- 8. Pharmacists 850 jobs · $141,110
- 9. Nurse Practitioners 820 jobs · $132,230
- 10. Human Resources Managers 520 jobs · $138,140
- 11. Physicians, All Other 460 jobs · $309,880
- 12. Soil and Plant Scientists 430 jobs · $132,290
- 13. Dentists, General 360 jobs · $209,300
- 14. Architectural and Engineering Managers 360 jobs · $148,330
- 15. Physician Assistants 340 jobs · $133,830
- 16. Family Medicine Physicians 250 jobs · $265,200
- 17. Pediatricians, General 90 jobs · $271,190
- 18. Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates 90 jobs · $147,510
Occupations Tracked
505
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$65,659
employment-weighted, 494 complete rows
Top Salary
$426,310
Emergency Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
91.7
8% below US avg
Top-pay occupations in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial Managers | $154,140 |
| 2 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $164,840 |
| 3 | Lawyers | $134,560 |
| 4 | Managers, All Other | $139,110 |
| 5 | Chief Executives | $290,870 |
| 6 | Sales Managers | $136,570 |
| 7 | Marketing Managers | $135,140 |
| 8 | Pharmacists | $141,110 |
| 9 | Nurse Practitioners | $132,230 |
| 10 | Human Resources Managers | $138,140 |
| 11 | Physicians, All Other | $309,880 |
| 12 | Soil and Plant Scientists | $132,290 |
| 13 | Dentists, General | $209,300 |
| 14 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $148,330 |
| 15 | Physician Assistants | $133,830 |
| 16 | Family Medicine Physicians | $265,200 |
| 17 | Pediatricians, General | $271,190 |
| 18 | Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $147,510 |
| 19 | Nurse Anesthetists | $237,670 |
| 20 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $160,990 |
| 21 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $150,850 |
| 22 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $426,310 |
| 23 | Psychiatrists | $358,020 |
| 24 | Physicists | $178,110 |
| 25 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $369,390 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Waiters and Waitresses | $20,410 |
| Bartenders | $22,340 |
| Tour and Travel Guides | $22,490 |
| Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants | $23,830 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $26,480 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $26,870 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $27,730 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $27,860 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $28,270 |
| Physical Therapist Aides | $29,120 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in IA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside IA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($65,659 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the lower price level do to Des Moines-West Des Moines wage reading? ▼
What is the highest paying job in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA? ▼
What jobs pay the least in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA? ▼
Which federal tables feed Des Moines-West Des Moines's wage and price figures? ▼
Related federal data
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.