78 1 Bedroom Apartments for rent in Des Moines, IA
April 2020 Des Moines Rent Report
Welcome to the April 2020 Des Moines Rent Report. Des Moines rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Des Moines rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
April 2020 Des Moines Rent Report
Welcome to the April 2020 Des Moines Rent Report. Des Moines rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Des Moines rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
Des Moines rents increased slightly over the past month
Des Moines rents have increased 0.2% over the past month, and are up slightly by 1.3% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Des Moines stand at $656 for a one-bedroom apartment and $808 for a two-bedroom. Des Moines' year-over-year rent growth is level with the state average of 1.3%, but lags the national average of 1.9%.
Rents rising across cities in Iowa
Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of Des Moines, but across the entire state. Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in Iowa, 8 of them have seen prices rise. The state as a whole logged rent growth of 1.3% over the past year. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the state.
- Looking throughout the state, Iowa City is the most expensive of all Iowa's major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $1,126; of the 10 largest cities in Iowa that we have data for, Ankeny and Ames, where two-bedrooms go for $799 and $990, are the only two major cities in the state to see rents fall year-over-year (-4.7% and -2.1%).
- Council Bluffs, West Des Moines, and Waterloo have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (4.8%, 3.6%, and 3.5%, respectively).
Des Moines rents more affordable than many large cities nationwide
As rents have increased slightly in Des Moines, a few large cities nationwide have seen rents grow more quickly. Des Moines is still more affordable than most large cities across the country.
- Des Moines' median two-bedroom rent of $808 is below the national average of $1,197. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.9% over the past year compared to the 1.3% rise in Des Moines.
- While Des Moines' rents rose slightly over the past year, the city of San Francisco saw a decrease of 0.2%.
- Renters will find more reasonable prices in Des Moines than most large cities. For example, San Francisco has a median 2BR rent of $3,102, which is more than three-and-a-half times the price in Des Moines.
For more information check out our national report. You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at this link.
Methodology - Recent Updates:
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Methodology:
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
About Rent Reports:
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.