Skip to main content
Rent v Buy

Rent vs Buy in Des Moines, IA

With a median listing price of $349,900, Des Moines is an affordable metro by national standards. A smaller purchase price tends to shorten the path to buying, though tax and rent levels still set the pace.

Rent averages $1,050 a month, which leaves Des Moines near the national price-to-rent ratio. Neither side of the comparison has a structural edge here, so the personal inputs carry the decision.

How Des Moines compares

  • Homes in Des Moines cost 21% less than the national median of $443,255.
  • Rent in Des Moines runs 52% lower than the U.S. median of $2,200/mo.
  • Homes in Des Moines cost 30% more than the Iowa median of $270,000.

What the numbers say

Property tax in Des Moines comes to about $464 a month ($5,563 a year) on a $349,900 median home at 1.59%. It is the biggest owning cost renters skip entirely, so model it before comparing.

Average rent sits at $1,050 a month ($12,600 a year), the anchor for the renting side. With appreciation near 7.2% a year, Des Moines sits close to the long-run norm, so the calculator's conservative 3 to 3.5% anchor lines up with recent local experience.

Homeowners insurance is modeled at the Iowa average of $1,700 a year; swap in a real quote once you have a specific home.

What makes the rent-vs-buy math different in Des Moines

Des Moines's price-to-rent ratio is about 27.8: the $349,900 median price divided by $1,050 a month in rent over a year. That is a middle-of-the-road ratio, where the rent-vs-buy answer turns on your down payment, mortgage rate, and how long you plan to stay. Think of the ratio as a quick first read. It will not settle the decision on its own, but it shows which side starts in front.

With a mid-range ratio, renting and buying in Des Moines start on roughly even footing. Where the break-even lands depends on your down payment, rate, and how fast rents rise, which the calculator below pins down.

Several local details shape the Des Moines decision beyond the ratio. Resident population reached 758,539 in 2025, up from 720,947 in 2021. Source. Financial activities employment was 56,048 in May 2026, reflecting the metro's unusually large finance and insurance footprint. Source.

Want the calculator pre-filled with Des Moines numbers? Open it below and the metro defaults load automatically.
Open with Des Moines defaults

Home Purchase

Enter details about the home you're considering buying

Quick fill:
$
%
%
yrs
%
$

Renting

Enter details about your rental alternative

$
%

Time Horizon & Market

yrs
%
%

Detailed mode adds 17 more inputs including advanced assumptions.

Buying is cheaper over 7 years

by $31,485

Buying comes out ahead, though the margin is meaningful only if you stay the full term and your assumptions hold roughly true.

High Confidence

The result is robust across small changes to your inputs.

Total cost of buying

$387,138

Average $4,609 per month over 7 years

Total cost of renting

$207,949

Average $2,476 per month over 7 years

Equity Built

$245,691

What you've paid down on the loan principal over 7 years.

Net Sale Proceeds

$211,339

What you'd walk away with after selling, minus closing costs.

Investment Growth

$65,204

What the down payment could grow to if invested instead of used to buy.

This chart shows total dollars spent on each path, month by month. With your inputs and time horizon, renting stays ahead the entire time.

Frequently Asked Questions

At $349,900, Des Moines's median listing price is 21% below the national median of $443,255. Price alone only goes so far: the price-to-rent ratio of 27.8 shows whether that figure is steep or fair next to local rents.

In Des Moines it is nearly a toss-up, with the price-to-rent ratio of 27.8 near the national middle. The deciding factors are your down payment, rate, and stay length rather than the market. The calculator below settles it for your scenario.

Property tax in Des Moines runs an effective 1.59%. On the $349,900 median home that works out to about $464 a month, or $5,563 a year, stacked on top of principal, interest, and insurance. It is one of the larger fixed owning costs that renting sidesteps.

At a 28% housing-cost ratio, Des Moines's $349,900 median home with 20% down at 7.0% over 30 years breaks down to about principal and interest $1,862, property tax $464, and insurance $142 a month, roughly $2,468 in all. That suggests gross household income near $105,754, with no PMI at 20% down. Use the affordability calculator for your own figures.

Rarely. In Des Moines, a $349,900 home carries roughly $13,996 in buy-side costs and $20,994 on the sell side, around 8 to 12% round-trip. Appreciation almost never recovers that inside three years, so renting is usually the financially safer call for a short stay here, as in most U.S. markets.

By Barron Hansen, Founder · Last reviewed

Keep comparing