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 31,988 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.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.61% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

One downside of living in Des Moines, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 31.47 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

For the size of the city, public transportation in Des Moines is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Des Moines, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

The education level of Des Moines citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 33.21% of adults in Des Moines have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Des Moines in 2022 was $42,963, which is upper middle income relative to Washington and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $171,852 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 20.85% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Des Moines include German, English, Irish, Italian, and European.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Des Moines's cultural character, accounting for 26.47% of the city’s population.

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