Millennials Are Reviving This Midwest City

Newsweek

3 days ago

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While the Midwest grapples with the consequences of decades of population decline, one city in the region, Des Moines, is thriving against the odds—thanks, in part, to the numbers of young people choosing to make it their home.
Jacob Hardigree, 33, is one of the many Des Moines escapees who have recently decided to return to the city after spending years away from Iowa. Hardigree, who was born and raised in Des Moines, left the city in his 20s, when he landed a job working at Yellowstone National Park in California.
In the following years, he lived in California and southwest Montana, where he met his now-wife. Life might have been very happy for Hardigree, but it was not particularly cheap: in Bozeman, Montana, a two-bedroom home was nearing the $1 million price tag after the pandemic, he said—an impossibly high expense for the young couple.
Bozeman's sky-high home prices ended up running them out of the city and Montana. About three years ago, Hardigree and his wife decided to move to his hometown—Des Moines.
"When we moved here we ended up making the same money as back West and now make more, so buying our home was pretty hassle-free," Hardigree told Newsweek. "Now we have a child—which we also would have never done in Bozeman."
Bucking the Trend
The latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that Des Moines continues to be the fastest-growing city in the Midwest, with an estimated population of 753,913 in 2024, up 6.3 percent from 709,517 in 2020 in its metropolitan area. This includes the cities of Ankeny and West Des Moines.
This number puts the city almost at the same level as some of the fastest-growing cities in the South, the region that is attracting the most newcomers, such as Phoenix, Arizona (6.9 percent) and Nashville, Tennessee (6.8 percent).
This phenomenon started a while ago. In the last decade alone, Des Moines grew its population by a stunning 16.98 percent, while much of the region continued struggling with an exodus of residents and several Midwestern states lost congressional seats because of these population declines.
While the Midwest grapples with the consequences of decades of population decline, one city in the region, Des Moines, is thriving against the odds.
While the Midwest grapples with the consequences of decades of population decline, one city in the region, Des Moines, is thriving against the odds.
Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/AP
But the data show that it has accelerated during the pandemic, likely because of the housing affordability crisis across the country. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, Des Moines' metro grew 1.9 percent faster than a year earlier.
"Some of our population growth, as with many states, is the result of post-COVID recovery," Les Sulgrove, statewide housing analyst at Iowa Realtors, told Newsweek.
"Our state has a large rural population and with the ability to work from home during COVID-19 and subsequently having the option now of working back in the offices for part of the week and home from the remaining time has been a boost for our metro and suburbs."
Des Moines' low unemployment rate, Sulgrove said, is a factor driving this population growth.
"There are jobs for pretty much anyone that wants to work in our area and the employment industry is also diversifying," he said. "The metro, once known primarily for insurance and agriculture, has shifted in recent years more towards data centers and technology. We still have very strong ties to our core industries through our universities and colleges and are able to keep many of our college students here after graduation."
The city's affordability, especially for first-time homebuyers, also plays in favor of Des Moines.
"Where many markets have seen wide swings in home values and employment, our markets have always been consistent and steady. Our median sale price has remained steady with the most recent year-over-year appreciation of values at 4.2 percent," Sulgrove said.
The median family income for Des Moines is $109,000, according to Iowa Realtors data, "and that is more than the income needed to buy a home with a minimum down payment," Sulgrove said. "With consistent equity gains, buying a home makes sense."
According to the latest Redfin data, the median sale price of a home in Des Moines in May was $216,250, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier. At the national level, a typical U.S. home cost $440,910, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier.
But even the Des Moines housing market is not perfect.
"Our biggest challenge is virtually like every market. The return of starter home stock levels is extremely low in our city and we need that segment to increase to spur more move up buyers," Sulgrove said.
"As soon as mortgage interest rates come down closer to 6 percent, we know that will psychologically open the door to more home seller holdouts," he added. "We saw a big jump in business last year when rates dipped close to that rate."
A Multi-Generational Haven
Young people have played a significant part in boosting Des Moines' population in recent years.
"Millennials have certainly contributed to Greater Des Moines' recent momentum, especially through their investment in urban living, entrepreneurship and early career opportunities," Tiffany Tauscheck, president & CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, told Newsweek.
"However, the region's growth has been fueled by a broader, multi-generational trend that reflects Greater Des Moines' overall attractiveness to people at different stages of life," she said.
The city has seen significant population growth over the past decade from adults ages 35 to 54 with college degrees, "a segment that has increased by a remarkable 26 percent," Tauscheck said, highlighting the city's attractiveness as a thriving job market.
"This group represents individuals in their peak earning and family formation years who have discovered this is a great place to grow in their career and raise a family. This type of talent is highly valuable for any region, and Greater Des Moines has outperformed most other metros in attracting and retaining them," she said.
"We also see growth in retirement age adults choosing to remain or relocate in the region, oftentimes to remain near or move closer to their children and grandchildren who live here, which strengthens our ability to retain younger generations."
While millennial migration helped fuel renewed energy in areas like Downtown Des Moines, Tauscheck and her colleagues are also observing an influx of Gen Zers, who are now beginning to enter the workforce, "and many Gen X and Boomer professionals choosing to stay here long-term due to lifestyle advantages and career opportunities," she said.
The Young People Calling Des Moines Home
Josh, 42, is a chef and a Des Moines native. He left the city to attend culinary school and lived in New York, New Orleans, and Saint Paul for 16 years, during which he visited his home city and "enjoyed the improvements and investments Des Moines seemed to consistently be making."
Eventually, in 2022, he and his family decided the time was right for them to come back to Des Moines, where they now live in the Beaverdale neighborhood.
"We have family and friends here, and the timing worked out to make the transition back to DSM," Josh told Newsweek.
After living in some of the most vibrant metropolises in the country, Josh can appreciate how much more affordable the cost of living is in Des Moines, though he said he "would never discount the life experiences obtained from living somewhere different than where you grew up for a while."
Josh and his family love "what Des Moines has to offer for us and our family," and he thinks that the investments that have been made in the area will continue to draw people there in the future.
"We are happy in Des Moines and thankful to have such great communities around us. It might not be the final stop on the journey, but we're not looking to leave anytime soon," he said.
Some young people are making their way to Des Moines from other states having no previous ties to the city. Sara Brown, 40, moved to Des Moines from Kansas 11 years ago for work and never looked back.
"I made the decision to move to DSM when my company closed the office I worked at in Kansas and offered relocation to our office in West Des Moines," she told Newsweek.
She had only visited Des Moines once before she made the decision to move, but she knew that there were a lot of opportunities in her industry—financial services— in the city should things not work out with her company (which they did).
"Beyond that, I loved that DSM was a bigger city than where I grew up in Kansas, but not so large that I'd feel totally lost. DSM is also an active city with a lot to do," she said.
Like Josh, Brown lives in the Beaverdale neighborhood in northwest Des Moines.
"My husband and I love living in Des Moines proper, and don't envision ourselves straying too far," she said.
Brown has owned a home for nearly eight years now, and even with the low interest rates at the time, she doesn't think she could have afforded to buy a similar property in New York City or Los Angeles. While she thinks that it can be easier for millennials to live in the Midwest in general, given the relatively low cost of living, she admits that the region—even places like Des Moines—cannot offer the same excitement as larger cities.
"I know a lot of people who have made the move—including my husband, who was only an acquaintance at the time of our moves!," she said. "The majority of those who moved with my company are still happily residing in Des Moines, although a few have returned home to Kansas."
Vee, 31, who was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, moved to Des Moines in 2022.
"My brother was the first to live in Des Moines. He moved here for his job from Montana in early 2017. I came to visit him in the summer of that year, not expecting much from the city. But I fell in love the first day I visited," she told Newsweek.
When the time came to move out of Virginia, the city was her only choice.
"I wanted to move from the small area where I lived in Virginia to a more urban/city setting. However, NYC and other major cities were a big no due to cost of living, rent, safety and the layout," she said. "Des Moines is a city but it's different from the others."
Vee believes that Des Moines "is one of the better places in the U.S. for millennials," offering low rents and home prices as well as an underrated art scene, dog-friendly bars, speakeasies, breweries and several music events every year.
"I wish more millennials and Gen Zers would move here," she said. "I don't think they know what they're missing out on."