Businessweek.com: Des Moines One of the 40 Strongest U.S. Metro Economies

By Prashant Gopal

Des Moines skylineUsing data and analysis from the Brookings Institution's new MetroMonitor study, BusinessWeek.com ranked the nation's top 40 economies based on job growth, employment, economic growth and home prices. What they discovered was America's strongest economies have one thing in common—home prices that never got too hot or too cold.

That stability ranked Des Moines 17th.

The Des Moines metro, which includes the state capital, has a highly educated population, including many residents who work in the financial industry. Employment in the Des Moines metro peaked in the first quarter of 2010. The gross metropolitan product in the second quarter was down 5.9% from the peak in the fourth quarter of 2007. However, home prices grew 1.9% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. While the unemployment rate in June was 5.6%, up 1.8 points from a year earlier.

Here's how Des Moines ranked in each of the criteria:

  • Job growth (since peak) rank: 9
  • Gross metro product (since peak) rank: 79
  • Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 3
  • Home price change (year over year) rank: 24

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