Salaries in Des Moines.
422 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.86x national average. Last updated April 2026.
422 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$277,000
Chief AI Officer
Median of All Roles
$127,000
AI Real Estate/PropTech Specialist
Entry Level
$28,000
Home Health Aide
Salary data sourced from SEC filings, H-1B Labor Condition Applications (DOL), Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and aggregated job postings across 50+ platforms. Ranges reflect 25th to 75th percentile for full-time positions. Cost-of-living adjustments use Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2025 index). Last updated April 2026.
Des Moines, IA has a cost-of-living index of 0.86x the national average. The highest-paying role is Chief AI Officer at $277,000, while the median across all 422 roles is $127,000. Des Moines is a major insurance and financial services hub, home to Principal Financial, EMC Insurance, and a growing fintech community.
About the Des Moines market
Des Moines is a major insurance and financial services hub, home to Principal Financial, EMC Insurance, and a growing fintech community. The metro's extremely low cost of living and strong job market make it one of the best value cities for finance professionals. Tech employment is growing as insurtech companies expand.
InsuranceFinancial ServicesAgricultureGovernmentTechnology
Top 50 salaries in Des Moines
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Chief AI Officer | $277,000 | $206,000 – $358,000 |
| 2 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $259,000 | $193,000 – $338,000 |
| 3 | Chief Technology Officer | $252,000 | $187,000 – $330,000 |
| 4 | Chief Revenue Officer | $250,000 | $188,000 – $331,000 |
| 5 | Chief Algorithm Officer | $243,000 | $182,000 – $317,000 |
| 6 | Head of AI Research | $241,000 | $179,000 – $318,000 |
| 7 | SVP of AI Innovation | $238,000 | $179,000 – $313,000 |
| 8 | Head of AI | $232,000 | $172,000 – $301,000 |
| 9 | Chief Product Officer | $228,000 | $169,000 – $299,000 |
| 10 | CEO | $227,000 | $165,000 – $314,000 |
| 11 | VP of AI Engineering | $226,000 | $170,000 – $294,000 |
| 12 | CFO | $224,000 | $168,000 – $297,000 |
| 13 | Head of AI Platform | $222,000 | $165,000 – $291,000 |
| 14 | Chief Operating Officer | $221,000 | $165,000 – $295,000 |
| 15 | VP of Engineering | $221,000 | $166,000 – $289,000 |
| 16 | Chief Human Resources Officer | $219,000 | $165,000 – $284,000 |
| 17 | Chief Data Officer | $219,000 | $164,000 – $287,000 |
| 18 | Chief Marketing Officer | $217,000 | $163,000 – $284,000 |
| 19 | VP of Product | $217,000 | $164,000 – $279,000 |
| 20 | Head of Applied AI | $217,000 | $162,000 – $285,000 |
| 21 | VP of AI Product | $213,000 | $158,000 – $275,000 |
| 22 | AI Transformation Officer | $211,000 | $158,000 – $276,000 |
| 23 | VP of Sales | $204,000 | $153,000 – $272,000 |
| 24 | AI Program Director | $199,000 | $151,000 – $261,000 |
| 25 | VP of Marketing | $196,000 | $146,000 – $259,000 |
| 26 | VP of Product Design | $194,000 | $144,000 – $252,000 |
| 27 | Head of AI Partnerships | $194,000 | $144,000 – $256,000 |
| 28 | Director of Generative AI | $192,000 | $144,000 – $252,000 |
| 29 | Director of Engineering | $191,000 | $148,000 – $248,000 |
| 30 | AI Financial Engineer | $188,000 | $139,000 – $241,000 |
| 31 | Foundation Model Engineer | $185,000 | $138,000 – $241,000 |
| 32 | Transformer Architecture Engineer | $182,000 | $136,000 – $239,000 |
| 33 | AI Agent Architect | $180,000 | $136,000 – $232,000 |
| 34 | Director of AI Strategy | $180,000 | $136,000 – $235,000 |
| 35 | AI Research Scientist | $179,000 | $134,000 – $233,000 |
| 36 | Deep Learning Engineer | $179,000 | $139,000 – $228,000 |
| 37 | Director of Data Science | $179,000 | $138,000 – $234,000 |
| 38 | AI Systems Architect | $178,000 | $135,000 – $233,000 |
| 39 | AI World Model Engineer | $178,000 | $132,000 – $235,000 |
| 40 | Reinforcement Learning Researcher | $177,000 | $132,000 – $234,000 |
| 41 | AI Compiler Engineer | $177,000 | $133,000 – $232,000 |
| 42 | Agentic Orchestrator | $175,000 | $132,000 – $228,000 |
| 43 | Multi-Agent Systems Architect | $175,000 | $129,000 – $232,000 |
| 44 | Quantum ML Researcher | $174,000 | $129,000 – $230,000 |
| 45 | Autonomous Vehicle AI Engineer | $174,000 | $130,000 – $231,000 |
| 46 | AI Hardware/Chip Design Engineer | $174,000 | $129,000 – $229,000 |
| 47 | AI Memory Systems Engineer | $174,000 | $130,000 – $231,000 |
| 48 | AI Safety Researcher | $173,000 | $128,000 – $226,000 |
| 49 | AI Cloud Architect | $173,000 | $131,000 – $219,000 |
| 50 | Director of Product Design | $173,000 | $133,000 – $221,000 |
Tax considerations
Iowa has a flat 3.8% state income tax. Des Moines has no city income tax. The low tax rate and affordable housing create strong purchasing power.
Negotiating in Des Moines
Benchmark against national insurance industry pay scales. Des Moines insurance employers must compete with remote offers from larger metros and will often match.
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