2009

Des Moines Facts & Figures

Here are some random, but interesting facts about our city…

  • Des Moines was founded in 1843 and incorporated as a city in 1851
  • The original name of Des Moines was Fort Raccoon, and was later changed to Fort Des Moines, then shortened to the current ‘Des Moines’
  • Des Moines is located at 41°35′27″N, 93°37′15″W (41.590939, -93.620866) and is within the Central Time Zone
  • Des Moines is situated at the junction of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers
  • Des Moines is located in Polk County and is the capital city of Iowa
  • Downtown Des Moines Zip Code is 50309 and Area Code of 515
  • More than 77,000 people come to work in downtown Des Moines every day, one of the highest rates per capita in all of the U.S.
  • Des Moines has been dubbed the 3rd largest insurance capital of the world, after London, England and Hartford, Connecticut
  • Des Moines has a 19.2 minute average commute time, one of the lowest for a city of our size
  • The downtown skywalk system is nearly four miles long, the 2nd most miles of skywalk per capita in North America, after Calgary, Alberta Canada
  • The first leg of the skywalk was created in 1969 to connect the old JC Penney Store downtown.
  • The 14K gold plated dome on the Iowa State Capitol is the largest gold dome in North America
  • The five-county Des Moines metropolitan area is ranked 91st in terms of population in the United States according to 2007 estimates with 546,599 residents according to United States Census Bureau. The city proper population was 198,682 at the 2000 census.
  • The Downtown Farmers’ Market has more than 200 vendors from all around Iowa.
  • Almost 200,000 attend the Des Moines Arts Festival every summer
  • Over a million people attend the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines every August
  • On January 20th 1982, Ozzy Osbourne dined on a bat while on stage in Des Moines in front of 5,000 or so witnesses
  • Des Moines has four professional minor league teams. The Iowa Barnstormers, arena football, and the Iowa Energy, basketball, all play at the Wells Fargo Arena. There is also the Iowa Cubs baseball team that plays at Principal Park and the Des Moines Menace soccer team.
  • Des Moines is a diverse, multi-faceted metropolitan area where the arts, theatre, ballet, symphony, opera are plentiful.
  • Nearest large city is Omaha, Nebraska which is about 125 miles west of Des Moines
Des Moines Population Diversity as of 2000 Census:
  • Male 48.4% / Female 51.6%
  • Median Age 33.8
  • White 82.3% / Black 8.1% / Hispanic 6.6%
  • Median Family Income $46,590
  • Average Family Size 3.04
Top five tallest buildings in downtown Des Moines:
Downtown Des Moines’ Largest Employers:
More interesting information about Des Moines can be found here:
An Award Winning Place to Live:
For more information on awards for the City of Des Moines, check out the city’s award page.

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