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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
When your office is wherever you open your laptop, the city you live in becomes a financial strategy. We ranked 2 cities in Iowa for remote workers — weighting cost, utilities, and economic strength. Des Moines tops the list for 2026: index 67, rent $1,141/mo.
When your office is wherever you open your laptop, the city you live in becomes a financial strategy. We ranked 2 cities in Iowa for remote workers — weighting cost, utilities, and economic strength. Des Moines tops the list for 2026: index 67, rent $1,141/mo.
Remote workers profit from geographic arbitrage. Our model scores cost index (20pts), local income as a proxy for economic infrastructure (15pts), and utility costs (10pts) — because when your living room is your office, reliable affordable internet and power matter. Des Moines scores highest with a 67 cost index and 90 utilities index. Cedar Rapids offers a different cost profile.
So, Des Moines. Cost index of 67, rent at $1,141/month. It's lower than the national average. Median income is $63,966, which is below the national median. Fairly typical for a city this size.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
#1 Ranked: Des Moines — cost index 67, rent $1,141/mo, income $63,966
Remote-worker scoring: cost index 67, utilities index 90, income $63,966 — maximizing geographic arbitrage
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
210,381 residents · Iowa
A closer look at Des Moines: the cost index of 67 — this is the part where it gets real — breaks down to a Housing index of 67 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 93 (weakest). Median rent is $1,141/month — 40% below the national median — while household income sits at $63,966, meaning locals spend about 21% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
135,958 residents · Iowa
A closer look at Cedar Rapids: the cost index of 68 — we had to double-check this one — breaks down to a Housing index of 68 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 94 (weakest). Median rent is $1,158/month — 39% below the national median — while household income sits at $67,859, meaning locals spend about 20% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Moines | 67 | $1,141 | Details |
| 2 | Cedar Rapids | 68 | $1,158 | Details |
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to remote workers. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Des Moines ranks #1 in Iowa for this analysis with a cost index of 67 and median income of $63,966.
Des Moines scores highest for remote workers due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,141/mo, and competitive median income of $63,966.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Des Moines (ranked #1) has a cost index of 67 and rent of $1,141/mo, while Cedar Rapids (ranked #2) has a cost index of 68 and rent of $1,158/mo — a 1-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Des Moines is $1,141/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $754 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Des Moines is $204,843, which is 3.2× the local median income. That's within the standard 3.5× affordability rule for most local earners. The national median home price is $467,370.
Iowa has a 5.7% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 6.94%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.43%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.