Des Moines is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 32,408 people and six associated neighborhoods, Des Moines is the 40th largest community in Washington.

Housing costs in Des Moines are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Washington.

Also of interest is that Des Moines has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Des Moines telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 11.28% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Des Moines is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

In Des Moines, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 31.62 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.

Like elsewhere in America, most people in Des Moines use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Des Moines‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the bus. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.

The education level of Des Moines citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 30.42% of adults in Des Moines have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Des Moines in 2022 was $42,528, which is upper middle income relative to Washington and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $170,112 for a family of four. However, Des Moines contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Des Moines is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Des Moines home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Des Moines residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Des Moines also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.21% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Des Moines include German, English, Irish, European, and Norwegian.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Des Moines's cultural character, accounting for 25.84% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Des Moines is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Vietnamese.