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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Living alone means bearing 100% of every bill. We ranked 2 cities in Iowa for singles, weighting rent, overall costs, and city size. Des Moines leads: rent $1,141/mo, index 67, population 210,381.
#1 Ranked: Des Moines — cost index 67, rent $1,141/mo, income $63,966
Singles scoring: rent $1,141/mo (solo housing), cost index 67, population 210,381 — livability on one income
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Living alone means bearing 100% of every bill. We ranked 2 cities in Iowa for singles, weighting rent, overall costs, and city size. Des Moines leads: rent $1,141/mo, index 67, population 210,381.
Dive into Des Moines's numbers: cost index 67 — a detail that tends to get overlooked — (44 points below national average), rent $1,141/month, income $63,966, and a home price of $204,843. It's fine. Not great, not bad. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 67, while Healthcare runs 93. With 210,381 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
Single-income living means absorbing 100% of housing costs. Our model weights rent under $1,300 (20pts), cost of living (15pts), and city population (10pts) — because a social scene matters when you're on your own. Des Moines at $1,141/mo in a city of 210,381 hits the right balance. Cedar Rapids offers a larger city as a runner-up.
Keep reading — the next section adds critical context. The 2 cities we track in Iowa paint a clearly affordable picture. Average cost index: 68. Median rent: $1,150/month. Household income: $65,913. Iowa is known for Midwest stability with bargain-level costs — and the data backs that reputation convincingly.
Bottom line: Des Moines leads this ranking for clear, data-backed reasons — but the "best" city depends on your priorities. Click into any city below to see the full detail page with 12-month trend charts, profession-specific salary data, and a breakdown of all five cost categories. If you're seriously considering a move, use our salary calculator to model your specific income against these numbers.
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Moines | 67 | $1,141 | Details |
| 2 | Cedar Rapids | 68 | $1,158 | Details |
210,381 residents · Iowa
Dive into Des Moines's numbers: cost index 67 (44 points below national average), rent $1,141/month, income $63,966, and a home price of $204,843. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 67, while Healthcare runs 93. With 210,381 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
135,958 residents · Iowa
What does daily life actually cost in Cedar Rapids? Start with the 20% rent-to-income ratio — that's the kind of margin that lets people build savings. On the category level, Housing (index 68) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 94) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $67,859 and homes at $204,214 round out a profile that ranks #2 for clear reasons.
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to singles. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in Iowa by this personalized metric. 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 singles 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.