Map of Des Moines, United States

Des Moines is the administrative centre of Iowa, United States, with a population of about 214,133. It lies at 41.6005°N, 93.6091°W, about 266 m above sea level. Des Moines is about 1,436 km (892 mi) west of Washington, D.C., the capital. The nearest city on our map is West Des Moines, 9 km to the west.

Des Moines at a glance

Where is Des Moines?

• The largest city in Iowa on this site.
• Located in the Northern and Western hemispheres.
• Daylight ranges from about 9 h 09 min on the shortest day to 15 h 12 min on the longest day (around 21 December and 21 June).

Cities near Des Moines

• West Des Moines — 9 km west
• Urbandale — 9 km west
• Ankeny — 14 km north
• Ames — 48 km north
• Cedar Falls — 141 km northeast
• Waterloo — 144 km northeast
• Cedar Rapids — 169 km east
• Iowa City — 173 km east
• Marion — 174 km east
• Council Bluffs — 191 km west

Largest cities in Iowa

• Cedar Rapids — 130,405
• Davenport — 102,582
• Sioux City — 82,821
• Iowa City — 74,220
• Waterloo — 68,460
• Ames — 65,060
• West Des Moines — 64,113
• Council Bluffs — 62,597
• Dubuque — 58,799
• Ankeny — 56,764

Largest cities in United States

• New York City — 8,804,190
• Los Angeles — 3,820,914
• Brooklyn — 2,736,074
• Chicago — 2,664,452
• Queens — 2,316,841
• Houston — 2,314,157
• Phoenix — 1,650,070
• Philadelphia — 1,573,916
• San Antonio — 1,526,656
• Manhattan — 1,487,536

Map of United States and all its cities →

Sources: place names, coordinates, populations and time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0, data retrieved October 2026). Population figures are the latest values recorded in GeoNames; depending on the country they refer to the city proper, a municipality or a wider urban area, so they can differ from census or metro-area figures. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.