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Minimum Wage Calculator for Des Moines, IA
Local data pre-filled
Iowa's minimum wage may differ from the federal $7.25/hr floor. In Des Moines, IA (cost of living index: 89), see what minimum wage translates to as an annual salary and how it compares to the median household income of $84,209.
Data as of · Sources: Zillow, Census ACS, Tax Foundation, Freddie Mac
Iowa Financial Snapshot (2026) — Minimum Wage Calculator
Minimum wage, median HH income, and COL adjust take-home for the minimum wage calculator in Iowa. Every row cites a primary public dataset. Numbers reflect the most recent vintage available; refresh cadence is documented in the methodology.
How the Minimum Wage Calculator Math Works Under Iowa Law
A Iowa salary calculation starts with the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) table for your occupation at the state level, then layers on Iowa's payroll stack: federal income tax (brackets published by IRS), FICA (7.65%), and state income tax at a top marginal 3.80%[1][2].
The formula: take_home = gross − federal_tax − state_tax − FICA − other. "Other" covers 401(k) deferral, HSA, FSA, pre-tax benefits. The calculator below runs this client-side — no inputs leave your browser.
Calc-specific note: Iowa's floor applies when higher than federal $7.25; tipped workers have a separate state-set floor.
Worked example — Iowa
Iowa minimum wage × 40hrs × 52 weeks × (1 − FICA + state tax) gives the annual take-home. Add tipped-worker differential where applicable. Compare against Iowa cost-of-living to gauge real purchasing power.
Local context: Des Moines, IA
Housing economics in Des Moines, IA. The median home value runs 18.7% below the U.S. baseline for Des Moines, IA is $290,940 per Zillow's home-value index. Median rent runs $1,268 a month per Zillow ZORI, cheaper than the national $1,850 baseline. Effective property tax sits at 1.50% of assessed value, meaningfully higher than the 0.99% national average tracked by the Tax Foundation. Lenders in Des Moines, IA have quoted 6.30% on the 30-year fixed product over the trailing four-week window per Freddie Mac PMMS — the prevailing posted rate before any borrower-specific lock-ins.
Income and tax climate. Iowa's top marginal state income tax bracket lands at 5.70% — compared to the volume-weighted national average around 4-5%. BEA's Regional Price Parity scores Des Moines, IA at 89.0 (national = 100), meaning a dollar in Des Moines, IA buys 112¢ — more goods and services than the same dollar nationally.
How Des Moines, IA affects take-home pay. Federal FICA, Medicare, and income tax are identical for every wage earner regardless of state. Des Moines, IA's contribution is the state income tax overlay plus any state-level disability or paid-family-leave deductions. Where applicable, the calculator factors in the local minimum wage when an hourly-to-salary conversion is involved, and uses BLS OEWS median earnings for Des Moines, IA as the contextual baseline shown alongside your inputs.
Local context as of 2026-07-14. Live data sources are listed in the Sources section below; each metric carries its own retrieval date.
Des Moines versus the U.S. baseline
How does Des Moines, IA stack up against the national average on the metrics that drive the calculators on this page? The table below pairs the Des Moines, IA-specific reading against the U.S. baseline so you can see at a glance whether your local scenario runs above or below typical. Three to five percentage points of difference on most of these inputs translates into meaningful changes in calculator output — for example, a 50-basis-point difference in mortgage rate moves the monthly payment on a $400,000 30-year loan by roughly $130.
| Metric | Des Moines, IA | U.S. baseline | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median home value[zillow] | $290,940 | $358,000 | -18.7% |
| Median monthly rent[zillow] | $1,268 | $1,850 | -31.5% |
| Property tax (effective)[tax-foundation] | 1.50% | 0.99% | 51.5% |
| State top marginal income tax[tax-foundation] | 5.70% | ~4.08% (volume-weighted) | 1.6 pp |
| State cost-of-living index[bea-rpp] | 89.0 | 100.0 | -11.0 pts |
How to use the Minimum Wage Calculator
Walk through using the Minimum Wage Calculator with Des Moines, IA-specific defaults pre-loaded from primary sources.
- Enter your Des Moines numbersFill in the minimum wage inputs. Defaults reflect Des Moines, IA 2026: median home $290,940, median rent $1,268/mo, 1.50% effective property tax.
- Apply the local 2026 inputsThe median home value in Des Moines is $290,940 (Zillow ZHVI), with median monthly rent running $1,268/mo.
- Compare against Des Moines contextMonthly PITI on the $290,940 median home in Des Moines is ~$2,124/mo — vs a $1,268/mo median rent.
How Iowa Compares to Neighboring States
Moving one state over changes the minimum wage numbers. Compare median home value (Zillow ZHVI), top marginal income tax rate, effective property tax rate, and the BEA all-items Regional Price Parity across Iowa and its border states.
| State | Median home | Top inc tax | Prop tax rate | RPP (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa (this page) | $215,000 | 3.80% | 1.50% | 88.8 |
| Illinois equivalent | $275,000 | 4.95% | 2.23% | 98.8 |
| compare to Minnesota | $335,000 | 9.85% | 1.12% | 98.3 |
| Missouri | $245,000 | 4.70% | 0.97% | 91.1 |
| Nebraska | $265,000 | 5.20% | 1.73% | 90.3 |
Sources: Zillow ZHVI[1], state Departments of Revenue / Tax Foundation[2], Tax Foundation property taxes[3], BEA Regional Price Parities[4].
What Changes Your Result in Iowa
- Iowa cost-of-living drag:Line-item costs in Iowa deviate from the US mean by whatever the BEA all-items RPP deviates from 100. Weight your budget toward the state average rather than the national average.
How Des Moines Compares to the National Average
Understanding how Des Moines stacks up helps you calibrate your financial planning.
| Metric | Des Moines, IA | US Average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Home Price | $290,940 | $420,800 | -30.9% |
| Median Monthly Rent | $1,268 | $1,713 | -26.0% |
| Median Household Income | $84,209 | $74,580 | +12.9% |
| Property Tax Rate | 1.50% | 1.10% | +36.4% |
| Cost of Living Index | 89 | 100 | -11.0% |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, BLS, Zillow, NAR (2024–2025). Green = favorable for residents; red = less favorable.
Des Moines Financial Snapshot
- Population (Metro)
- 700,000
- Unemployment
- 2.8%
- Avg Commute
- 20 min
- Median Age
- 33.8
- Price-to-Rent Ratio
- 19.1x
- Annual Property Tax
- $4,364
More Financial Calculators for Des Moines, IA
Minimum Wage Calculator in Other Iowa Cities
Frequently Asked Questions — Des Moines
- What's the Des Moines-adjusted p50 wage?
- The state p50 $29,200 scaled by Des Moines's 89 cost-of-living index equals $25,988.
- Can median-income households afford the median home in Des Moines?
- With a ~$2,124 monthly PITI and $84,209 median income, housing would consume ~30.3% of gross annual income. Qualifying under the 28% DTI rule requires ~$91,029 in annual income. Educational reference only.
- Is it better to rent or buy in Des Moines?
- Des Moines's price-to-rent ratio (19.1x) is roughly neutral — in the 15-20x range the decision depends on time horizon and wealth goals.
- What is the median home price in Des Moines, IA?
- The median home price in Des Moines is $290,940 as of 2025–2026.
- What is the average rent in Des Moines?
- The median monthly rent in Des Moines, IA is $1,268.
- Where does Des Moines data on this page come from?
- Des Moines numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income, demographics), and Tax Foundation (property tax). Each value is timestamped on the page.
- How often is the Des Moines minimum wage updated?
- Source feeds (Zillow, Freddie Mac PMMS, Census ACS) are refreshed on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
- Does the minimum wage replace professional advice?
- No. This calculator gives educational estimates using public Des Moines data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for decisions with material consequences.
How we compute this — methodology
The Des Moines page uses local median home price ($290,940), median rent ($1,268/mo), and property tax rate (1.50%) alongside the calculator's client-side formula. Calculations run in your browser — no inputs are sent to a server.
Refresh cadence:home price (Zillow ZHVI) and rent (Zillow ZORI) are reviewed monthly when the source publishes. Property tax and cost-of-living figures refresh annually. The page's dateModified reflects the most recent retrievedAt across every sourced value rendered above.
Known limits: ZIP-level variance within Des Moines can be substantial — the figures shown are city-wide medians. For a precise property tax quote, consult your county assessor.
Sources
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (Zillow Home Value Index) + ZORI (Zillow Observed Rent Index), city-level. zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for median household income and population. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs.
- CalcFi state financial context — tips + first-time homebuyer programs compiled from each state's Housing Finance Authority (HFA) public pages. See
src/data/state-financial-context.ts. - Tax Foundation — state property tax effective rates and state/local sales tax rates. taxfoundation.org.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) — weekly national mortgage rate averages used by mortgage-related calculators. freddiemac.com/pmms.
- U.S. Department of Labor — State Minimum Wage Laws — www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities by State — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- Internal Revenue Service — federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- State Departments of Revenue — official bracket + deduction publications (one primary URL per state; linked in the brackets table below) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) — weekly national mortgage rates — www.freddiemac.com/pmms. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- NAIC Dwelling Fire, Homeowners Owners, and Homeowners Tenants Insurance Report — content.naic.org/article/homeowners-insurance-report. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) — real median household income, unemployment, HPI, LFPR per state — fred.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
Spot an error? Email hello@calcfi.app with the URL and the correct figure.
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National reference: Minimum Wage Calculator Calculator