Firefighter Salary in Des Moines, IA: Median $48,777 in 2026
Des Moines (IA) · COL index 89 · Unemployment 2.8% · Metro pop 700,000 · Rank #205 of 283 for Firefighter salary
A Firefighter in Des Moines earns an estimated median of $48,777 per year. That figure starts from the Iowa state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($48,650) and scales it by Des Moines's composite cost-of-living index of 89 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $29,346; the 90th percentile reaches $86,525. After federal, Iowa state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Firefighter takes home approximately $39,467/year — about $3,289/month or $1,518 every other week.
Compared to the national Firefighter median of $60,670, Des Moines pays -19.6%. Relative to the Des Moines median household income of $67,200, a Firefightersalary runs -27.4%. Local unemployment is 2.8%[3], with an estimated 113 annual Firefighter openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (361,290).
Firefighter Snapshot — Des Moines (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Des Moines | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter median salary | $48,777 | $60,670 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $29,346 | $42,290 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $86,525 | $112,440 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $39,467 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $290,940 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,268/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,175/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $84,209 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 89.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 2.8% | — | [3] |
How Firefighter Salaries Work in Des Moines
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Iowa state-level OEWS median ($48,650) and scaling by Des Moines's composite cost-of-living index (89)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Iowa state income tax at a 3.8% effective rate ($1,854/yr on the $48,777 median)[10].
Des Moines also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $84,209, which frames what "a good Firefighter salary" means locally: a $$48,777 wage pays about 58% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Firefighter Salary & Cost-of-Living Context — Des Moines
Buy vs rent in Des Moines
Monthly PITI on the $290,940 median home in Des Moines is ~$2,208/mo — vs a $1,268/mo median rent. Rent burden on median household income is 18.1%, which falls within the recommended 30% guideline for housing costs.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Des Moines
Estimated annual expense shares on a $39,467 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Des Moines's COL index of 89. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Des Moines's COL index of 89[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $850/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Des Moines
Renting
Buying
At $3,289/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $987/mo. Des Moines's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,268/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,175/mo), making rent very affordable on a median Firefighter salary. For homebuyers, the 4.9× price-to-income ratio is workable with a strong credit profile and manageable other debts.
How Des Moines Stacks Up for Firefighters
Against 283 major US cities: Des Moines ranks #205 for nominal Firefighter salary, #13 for rent affordability, and #78 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Des Moines's nominal wage premium. Firefighters here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Firefighter Salary Comparison
Des Moines's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs IA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines, IA ★ | $48,777 | 89 | $850 | — |
| Cedar Rapids, IA | $52,176 | 86 | $700 | +7.0% |
| Davenport, IA | $50,963 | 84 | $850 | +4.5% |
| Clarksville, TN | $53,996 | 89 | $1,000 | +10.7% |
| Columbia, SC | $53,996 | 89 | $1,050 | +10.7% |
| Odessa, TX | $53,996 | 89 | $1,100 | +10.7% |
Firefighter Job Market in Des Moines
Des Moines has an estimated 113 annual Firefighteropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 361,290 national Firefighters[1]. The 2.8% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: Firefighters respond to fires, medical emergencies, and other hazardous situations. Like police, they typically receive strong pension benefits and overtime pay. Typical entry requirement: postsecondary non-degree award. Projected growth through 2034: 4%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Des Moines
Early-career Firefighters in Des Moines start around $29,346, reach the city median ($48,777) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($86,525) at senior / specialized levels.
Related government & military professions in Des Moines
Calculators for Firefighters in Des Moines
Other professions in Des Moines
Frequently Asked Questions — Firefighter in Des Moines
How much does a Firefighter make in Des Moines, IA?
The estimated median salary for a Firefighter in Des Moines is $48,777/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Iowa state median ($48,650) by Des Moines's composite cost-of-living index of 89 (US = 100). After federal, Iowa state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $39,467/year or $3,289/month.
Can a Firefighter afford to live in Des Moines?
On $3,289/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $987/month. Des Moines's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,268/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,175/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 20.9%, making housing very affordable for a Firefighter at the local median. Home-buyers face 4.9× price-to-income, needing roughly 4.9 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Firefighter pay in Des Moines?
On $48,777 gross, a Firefighter in Des Moines pays approximately $3,725 in federal income tax (7.6% effective), $1,854 in Iowa state income tax (3.8% effective), and $3,731 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 19.1%. Some Iowa cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Des Moines rank for Firefighter salaries vs other cities?
Des Moines ranks #205 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Firefighter salary, #13 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #78 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Firefighter in Des Moines?
On $39,467 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Des Moines looks like: housing $10,200/yr (25.8%); food $4,424/yr; transportation $3,773/yr; healthcare $2,672/yr; utilities $1,865/yr; savings + discretionary $16,533/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Des Moines's COL index of 89 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Firefighter job market like in Des Moines?
Des Moines's unemployment rate is 2.8% across the metro of 700,000. Estimated annual Firefighter openings: ~113 (extrapolated from 361,290 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Des Moines employers pay above or below the Iowa median for Firefighters?
Not consistently — Des Moines's estimated Firefighter median of $48,777 is 19.6% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Des Moines median is derived from the Iowa state-level BLS OEWS median ($48,650), scaled by Des Moines's composite cost-of-living index of 89. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Firefightermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Iowa's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 89index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 88.8(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Iowa Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
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