H-1B salaries in Des Moines, IA

Based on 1,345 certified H-1B filings in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Base salary only.

Median salary$100,838
Middle 50%$84.3k–$122k
vs. national median−18%comparison median $122,699
Filings1,345FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $55,212 and $343,454.
PercentileSalary
10th$76,482
25th$84,262
50th (median)$100,838
75th$122,000
90th$140,938

Salary by year

Median salary

$70k $90k $110k FY2020: median $84,760 (1,360 filings) FY2021: median $86,000 (982 filings) FY2022: median $90,000 (934 filings) FY2023: median $93,766 (801 filings) FY2024: median $92,310 (784 filings) FY2025: median $100,838 (774 filings) FY2026: median $100,850 (571 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 1,360 filings FY20 FY2021: 982 filings FY21 FY2022: 934 filings FY22 FY2023: 801 filings FY23 FY2024: 784 filings FY24 FY2025: 774 filings FY25 FY2026: 571 filings FY26 1,360
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020$84,760$77,366$93,6001,360
FY2021$86,000$80,103$100,324982
FY2022$90,000$84,718$110,448934
FY2023$93,766$85,467$110,806801
FY2024$92,310$83,554$113,250784
FY2025$100,838$84,024$124,038774
FY2026$100,850$86,000$120,000571

Cost of living

Des Moines's median H-1B salary of $100,838 is worth about $110,000 at national average prices.

Fair market rent, 1-bedroom$1,145Per month. Source: HUD Fair Market Rents, FY2027 (Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA HUD Metro FMR Area).
Fair market rent, 2-bedroom$1,360Per month. Source: HUD Fair Market Rents, FY2027 (Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA HUD Metro FMR Area).
Price level (U.S. = 100)91.7Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024.
Price-adjusted median$110,000Median salary ÷ (price level ÷ 100).
State income tax on wagesIA: yesSource: Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2025.

Most filed jobs

JobMedianFilings
Software Engineer$103,605559
Systems Engineer / Architect$102,294174
QA Engineer$81,221100
Data Scientist$100,50080
Programmer Analyst$87,00043
Systems Analyst$86,00836
Accountant$78,00031
Data Engineer$126,53024
Physician$276,00019
Mechanical Engineer$106,45014
Database Administrator$110,53512
Actuary$85,00011
Information Security Analyst$120,00011
Validation Engineer$90,00011
IT Manager$180,37010

By job title

.NET Developer$100.8k · 27 Java Developer$100.8k · 19 Full Stack Developer$100.8k · 15

Job titles with at least 10 filings in Des Moines, IA. Figure: median salary · filings.