Population & Demographics
West Des Moines, IA
West Des Moines is home to 71,083 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 37,263 resident workers commute each day.
71,083 residents
Median age 36.0 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).
West Des Moines population & demographics
Who lives in West Des Moines — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.
Race & ethnicity in West Des Moines
How West Des Moines breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).
Race across West Des Moines
Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across West Des Moines.
These figures are for West Des Moines proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.
How West Des Moines commutes
Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.
79 / 100
How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.
West Des Moines
37,263 commutes, one dot at a time
West Des Moines
Where 37,263 workers commute
Where residents work
Top destinations for people who live in West Des Moines, by worker count.
Who commutes in
Top origin places for workers who travel into West Des Moines.
Top industries
The sectors that employ West Des Moines’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.
Internet options for West Des Moines
The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.
FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).