Salaries

Salaries in Des Moines.

3,445 roles. One city.

Cost-of-living index: 0.86x national average. Last updated August 2026.

3,445 roles tracked
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Highest Paying

$295,000

Senior VP of Product

Median of All Roles

$119,000

Senior Accessibility Specialist

Entry Level

$29,000

Data Entry Specialist

The salary figures on this page are computed estimates, not observed wages. Each one is a national role baseline scaled by a Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity cost-of-living multiplier (2025 index) and rounded to the nearest $1,000. No published wage percentile is consulted and no wage survey response enters the calculation, so an Orbyt estimate must not be cited as a Bureau of Labor Statistics figure or as measured pay. The published wage data Orbyt holds is Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and Department of Labor H-1B Labor Condition Application filings, which record a filed minimum visa base wage rather than market pay. Where BLS publishes a wage for the occupation a role maps to, it is shown on that role's page as a separate benchmark, labelled with its occupation code, metro area and the number of employed workers it covers. Last updated August 2026.

Des Moines, IA has a cost-of-living index of 0.86x the national average. The highest-paying role is Senior VP of Product at $295,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $119,000. Des Moines is a major insurance and financial services hub, home to Principal Financial, EMC Insurance, and a growing fintech community.

About the Des Moines market

Des Moines is a major insurance and financial services hub, home to Principal Financial, EMC Insurance, and a growing fintech community. The city's extremely low cost of living and strong job market make it one of the best value cities for finance professionals.

InsuranceFinancial ServicesAgricultureGovernmentTechnology

Top 50 salaries in Des Moines

#RoleMedianRange
1Senior VP of Product$295,000$230,000 – $384,000
2SVP of Product$287,000$244,000 – $373,000
3Senior VP of Security$281,000$239,000 – $365,000
4SVP of Engineering$276,000$234,000 – $358,000
5Chief AI Officer$275,000$204,000 – $354,000
6SVP of Technology$273,000$232,000 – $355,000
7Senior VP of Design$272,000$213,000 – $353,000
8Chief Security Officer$272,000$212,000 – $354,000
9Chief Strategy Officer$272,000$212,000 – $354,000
10VP of Developer Experience$271,000$231,000 – $352,000
11SVP of AI Innovation$270,000$229,000 – $351,000
12SVP of Data$270,000$229,000 – $351,000
13VP of Machine Learning$268,000$229,000 – $349,000
14SVP of Finance$268,000$228,000 – $348,000
15VP of Site Reliability Engineering$268,000$229,000 – $349,000
16VP of Cybersecurity$268,000$229,000 – $349,000
17VP of AI$266,000$226,000 – $346,000
18Senior Head of Security$264,000$225,000 – $343,000
19CTO$263,000$205,000 – $342,000
20VP of Mobile$263,000$224,000 – $342,000
21VP of Partner Engineering$263,000$224,000 – $342,000
22VP of Field Engineering$263,000$224,000 – $342,000
23VP of Support Engineering$263,000$224,000 – $342,000
24VP of Technical Support$263,000$224,000 – $342,000
25VP of Security Engineering$263,000$224,000 – $342,000
26SVP of Sales$263,000$205,000 – $342,000
27VP of Quality$263,000$224,000 – $342,000
28VP of Data Science$261,000$222,000 – $339,000
29Chief Machine Learning Officer$261,000$203,000 – $339,000
30VP of IT$261,000$222,000 – $339,000
31VP of Privacy$261,000$222,000 – $339,000
32VP of Risk$261,000$221,000 – $339,000
33Chief Architect$261,000$221,000 – $339,000
34VP of Application Engineering$261,000$222,000 – $339,000
35Senior Head of Product$260,000$204,000 – $339,000
36Chief Science Officer$259,000$202,000 – $336,000
37VP of AI Engineering$258,000$220,000 – $335,000
38VP of Analytics$258,000$220,000 – $335,000
39VP of Information Technology$258,000$220,000 – $335,000
40VP of Reliability Engineering$258,000$220,000 – $335,000
41VP of AI Product$255,000$217,000 – $332,000
42VP of Security$255,000$217,000 – $332,000
43Chief Digital Officer$255,000$199,000 – $332,000
44VP of Data$255,000$217,000 – $332,000
45VP of Database Engineering$255,000$217,000 – $332,000
46SVP of Strategy$255,000$199,000 – $332,000
47Chief Technology Officer$254,000$189,000 – $333,000
48Chief Transformation Officer$254,000$198,000 – $331,000
49SVP of Marketing$254,000$198,000 – $331,000
50VP of AI Research$253,000$215,000 – $329,000

Tax considerations

Iowa has a flat 3.8% state income tax. Des Moines has no city income tax. The low rate and affordable housing create strong purchasing power.

Negotiating in Des Moines

Benchmark against national insurance industry pay scales. Des Moines insurance employers compete with remote offers from larger metros.

Other cities

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