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.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
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
What to do with this data
How to use Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA wage figures in a real decision
- Emergency Medicine Physicians leads published medians in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA at $426,310/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Emergency Medicine Physicians
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $65,659 adjusts to about $71,601 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 91.7. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for IA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
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.