Ames vs Des Moines leftover
You'd keep $492 more a month in Des Moines
$2,893/mo leftover in Des Moines vs $2,401 in Ames after tax and rent ($492 more). +$5,904 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Ames leftover
$2,401
a month after tax and rent
Des Moines leftover
$2,893
+$492 vs Ames
Compare Ames to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Ames.
Monthly gap
Ames → Des Moines
$492
more / month in Des Moines
$2,893 in Des Moines · $2,401 in Ames · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 1,258 households moved Ames → Des Moines (avg AGI $57,079). 965 went the other way. The whole move →
+$492 / mo
| Per month | Ames | Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,208 | $7,478 | +$1,270 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,332 | $1,756 | +$425 |
| Take-home pay | $4,877 | $5,722 | +$845 |
| Rent | $760 | $991 | +$231 |
| Getting around | $457 | $533 | +$76 |
| Groceries | $347 | $360 | +$13 |
| Healthcare | $391 | $405 | +$14 |
| Utilities | $217 | $225 | +$8 |
| Everything else | $304 | $315 | +$11 |
| Left over | $2,401 | $2,893 | +$492 |
To break even in Des Moines, you'd need to earn
$81,000
Household gross, versus $74,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Ames does now.
The tax difference alone
−$579
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 21.4% in Ames, 23.5% in Des Moines.
More about Des Moines
Ames, IA in full
A flat 3.8% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $905 and 207 sunny days; commutes average 19 minutes.
Des Moines, IA in full
Insurance-sector wages against the lowest housing costs on this list.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Des Moines on Des Moines wages.
Des Moines → Ames →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Des Moines than Ames?
A one-bedroom is about $760 in Ames versus $991 in Des Moines. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $492 a month higher in Des Moines. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Des Moines have state income tax?
Des Moines is in Iowa, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Ames to Des Moines?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Iowa tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Ames and Des Moines moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.