Housing in Downtown Des Moines at a glance
- Population
- about 7,131
- Housing units
- about 6,013
- Median value, owner-occupied homes
- $318,000Des Moines: $194,700 (+63%)
- Median gross rent
- $1,240 a monthDes Moines: $1,090 (+14%)
- Owner-occupied homes
- 9.2%Des Moines: 60.5%
- Homes built before 1980
- 46.6%
- Median year built
- 1984
Downtown Des Moines stands apart from every other sector with data: only 9.2% of households own their home, the lowest share of the ten, and 4,724 households rent against 476 that own. Home values are the highest in the city at $318,000, 63% ahead of the $194,700 city value, and rent follows the same pattern at $1,240, second-highest of ten. Drake costs less ($205,000), as do Indianola Hills ($171,000) and Highland Park/Oak Park ($148,000), and those neighbours have far higher owner shares, from 42.9% to 73.4%. The housing is newer than in most of the city, with the year-built midpoint at 1984 and 46.6% of homes standing before 1980, ninth-highest of ten. The area sits near the population centre of Des Moines, where renting is the norm. Highland Park/Oak Park, by contrast, has 90.8% pre-1980 housing and Indianola Hills 86.6%, which shows how much newer the downtown stock is. Rent at Drake is $1,010 and at Highland Park/Oak Park $1,080, both well below.
Questions about Downtown Des Moines
What is the median home value in Downtown Des Moines, Des Moines?
$318,000 for owner-occupied homes, against $194,700 for Des Moines as a whole (Payotte estimate from Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year data for the census tracts within the official boundary). It is the owners' own estimate of their home's value, not a sale price.
What is the median rent in Downtown Des Moines?
$1,240 a month in gross rent (rent plus utilities paid by the renter), against $1,090 in Des Moines (Payotte estimate from Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year data for the census tracts within the official boundary).
Do most people in Downtown Des Moines own or rent?
Most rent: 9.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, against 60.5% in Des Moines (Payotte estimate from Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year data for the census tracts within the official boundary).
Data and method
Data as of: American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau (retrieved 2026-11-02).
Estimate from the 1 census tracts whose internal point lies within the official boundary: counts are summed, and each median is recomputed from the summed value, rent and year-built brackets (grouped median, linear interpolation). The gap with the city is measured with the same method on the whole city.
Downtown Des Moines is one of the 10 most populous of 51 neighborhoods of Des Moines: estimated population about 7,131 (Payotte estimate: Census ACS 2020-2024 populations of the census tracts whose internal point lies inside the boundary; boundaries from City of Des Moines GIS, Neighborhoods, consulted 2026-11-02).
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B01003, B25001, B25003, B25034, B25063, B25064, B25075, B25077; U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer files (census tract internal points). City figures: the same survey, published for Des Moines as a whole. Home values are owners' estimates, not sale prices.
Near Downtown Des Moines
The closest sectors of Des Moines, by distance between population centres.
Other sectors of Des Moines
Five trades, one spot each
Payotte lists one professional per trade in Downtown Des Moines. No one is listed yet: every spot is open.
- Real estate agentOpen spot
- Mortgage loan officerOpen spot
- Home inspectorOpen spot
- Real estate attorneyOpen spot
- AppraiserOpen spot
Work in one of these trades in Downtown Des Moines? Ask for your spot.