Living in Des Moines, WA
Des Moines is a small city of 32,823 people in King County, Washington. It's about 16 miles from Seattle, WA. Summer highs average 78°F and winter highs 48°F, with about 6 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $597k and rent runs about $2k a month.
32,823people
$597kTypical home
$1,799/moRent
78° / 48°Summer / winter
6"Snow
169Sunny days
155Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small city of 32,823
- Part of a metro area
- About 5,117 people per sq mi
- 16 mi to Seattle, WA
- 16 mi to Seattle, WA
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $597k (≈$3,765/mo)
- Median rent $1,799/mo
- Median household income $92k
- Property tax about 0.9% of value
- 7.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 78°F
- Winter highs around 48°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 55°F)
- 169 sunny days a year (62 totally clear)
- 196 cloudy days a year
- 65 of 90 winter days are gray
- 155 days a year with rain or snow
- 6" of snow a year
- 2 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Low violent crime (238 per 100k)
- Above-average property crime (2,253 per 100k)
People
- Median age 38
- 30% of households have kids
- 17% are 65 or older
- 34% have a college degree
- Very diverse community
- 6% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 33 min
- 7% walk or take transit to work
- 4 mi to SEA airport
- 4 mi to SEA (major hub)
- 12 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 58% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1974
- 93% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 190 ft
- Right on the coast
- 98 mi to a big lake
- 4 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 41 mi to the nearest ski area
- Campground in town
- 77 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 3,188 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 363 bars within 25 mi
- 1,248 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 40 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 101 museums within 25 mi
- 55 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 2 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 21% of Washington districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 5 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 5 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 2 mi to the nearest dog park
- 4 congregations per 10k people
- College in town
Politics
- King County: D+52 in 2024
- Washington: D+18 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Very low tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- High earthquake risk
- Very low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- High volcano risk