Kansas City, MO · Des Moines, IA
Des Moines is 3% cheaper than Kansas City overall.
Home Price
Kansas: $270,000
Des: $240,000
Monthly Rent
Kansas: $1,146/mo
Des: $850/mo
COL Index
Kansas: 92
Des: 89
Median Income
Kansas: $67,800
Des: $67,200
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Kansas City has the same purchasing power as $96,739 in Des Moines — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Des Moines cost 11% more (-$30,000 extra). Expect a larger mortgage and down payment.
Renting in Des Moines saves you $296/month — $3,552 per year. Median rent: $1,146/mo in Kansas City vs $850/mo in Des Moines.
On a median-priced home, Kansas City owners pay roughly $2,700/year in property taxes vs $3,600/year in Des Moines. That's a $900 annual difference.
Median household income is $67,800 in Kansas City and $67,200 in Des Moines. Incomes are similar, so cost of living differences matter more.
Average commute is 23 minutes in Kansas City vs 20 minutes in Des Moines. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Kansas City to Des Moines, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Kansas City | Equivalent in Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,370 | -$1,630 |
| $75,000 | $72,554 | -$2,446 |
| $100,000 | $96,739 | -$3,261 |
| $150,000 | $145,109 | -$4,891 |
| $200,000 | $193,478 | -$6,522 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Based on cost of living indices, Des Moines is cheaper overall. Kansas City has a COL index of 92 while Des Moines scores 89 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Kansas City is $270,000 vs $240,000 in Des Moines — a difference of $30,000 (11%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Kansas City is equivalent to $96,739 in Des Moines in terms of purchasing power.
Kansas City has a lower property tax rate (1% vs 1.5%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $2,700/year vs $3,600/year.
Median monthly rent: $1,146 in Kansas City vs $850 in Des Moines. Annualized: $13,752 vs $10,200.
Kansas City: $67,800/yr. Des Moines: $67,200/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Des Moines typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh 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.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .