Des Moines Register: Des Moines Ranked High in Quality of Life

By David Elbert
March 2009

The Des Moines area is No. 10 in a new quality-of-life ranking of the nation's 124 mid-sized metropolitan areas by BizJournals, the online component of American City Business Journals, which publishes newspapers in 41 cities.
 
Only two communities in the Midwest ranked higher: Madison, Wis., was No. 3, and Ann Arbor, Mich., was No. 5.

The top mid-sized metro area was Provo, Utah, which has grown by 31 percent since 2000. Provo had the largest supply of homes with nine or more rooms, nearly 26 percent of the area's housing stock.

The ranking cited Des Moines' low average work commute of 19.7 minutes, as well as a solid core of young workers, strong rate of home ownership, inventory of large houses and the number of adults with high school diplomas.

BizJournals used 20 sets of data from 2007 to compile its ranking of metro areas that have populations between 250,000 and 1 million. Included were statistics on housing, education, employment, income, transportation and growth.

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