Property Crime per Capita in Des Moines
Property crime covers theft, burglary, vehicle theft, and arson, offenses against belongings rather than people. The map below shows the property crime rate per 1,000 Des Moines residents.
Safest
Highest crime
Colorblind friendly
off
C+
C+ |
|
Property Crime Grade |
C+ |
Other Crime Grade |
C |
$74.1 million
Cost of Crime™ for Des Moines, IA
In 2025, property crime will cost $251 per household.
On the map, green marks the parts of the Des Moines area with the least property crime and red marks the most, weighted by the type and severity of each offense. Property crime is the most common category of crime, so these maps track closely with where stores, parking, and daytime foot traffic sit. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains why busy commercial blocks can look worse than the neighborhoods around them.
The C+ grade reflects how often theft, burglary, vehicle theft, and arson happen in the Des Moines area against the average US city, where the rate is about the same as the norm. Des Moines sits in the 49th percentile for property-crime safety, ahead of 49% of cities and behind 51%. The grade covers only the Des Moines area's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.
The property crime rate in the Des Moines area is 12.60 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally point to the west part of the city as the safest for their belongings. Your odds of a property-crime loss range from 1 in 48 in the central neighborhoods to 1 in 186 in the west.
Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the central parts of Des Moines, IA report the most property crime, about 3,662 cases per year. The northwest part reports the fewest, around 307 per year.
The Cost of Crime™ in Des Moines, IA
Property crime in Des Moines is projected to cost $74,133,527 in 2025, about $100 per resident and $251 per household. That equals 0.2% of the median household income. All of it is measurable loss: replaced vehicles, repaired break-ins, stolen goods, and the policing and courts that respond. Because property crime leaves a repair bill rather than a lasting injury, these tangible costs make up its full economic toll. They split into:- Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 60.6%
- Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 33.6%
- Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 5.9%
How Much Does Property Crime Cost in Des Moines Compared to Other Cities?
| Des Moines, IA: | $100 |
|---|---|
| Mason City, IA: | $197 |
| Adel, IA: | $31 |
| Iowa: | $96 |
| USA: | $136 |
Property crime costs $100 per resident each year in Des Moines, which is $36 less than the national average and $3 more than Iowa's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Des Moines:
- In Mason City, IA, crime costs $197 per person, which is $97 more than in Des Moines.
- In Adel, IA, crime costs $31 per person, which is $69 less than in Des Moines
2025 Projected Property Crime Cost by Type
The table below breaks the property-crime total into its four offenses for Des Moines, with the projected cost per resident.Crime |
Cost to Des Moines |
Cost per Des Moines Resident |
|---|---|---|
Vehicle Theft |
$28.8 million |
$39 |
Burglary |
$11.8 million |
$16 |
Theft |
$31.8 million |
$43 |
Arson |
$1.73 million |
$2 |
Total Cost of Property Crime |
$74,133,527 |
$100 |
How the Property Crime Cost Is Estimated
Property crime carries no pain-and-suffering figure in this model. Its cost is the replacement and repair value of what was taken or damaged, plus the policing, courts, and lost offender productivity that follow. Stolen and damaged property has a market price, which is why this total is easier to pin down than the human cost of violent crime in Des Moines, IA. All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.Interpreting the Property Crime Maps
Property crime rates are measured per resident, so places where shoppers and commuters outnumber residents read high. Stores are where shoplifting, theft, and vehicle break-ins happen, yet almost nobody lives there, so the per-capita rate climbs. How strongly this shows on the map depends on retail density; the central part of the city has more retail establishments. A red commercial strip does not mean the homes nearby are unsafe.
Parking lots and transit stops follow the same pattern: heavy daytime traffic, few residents, so per-capita property crime reads high. To judge a residential block, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total number of incidents, and note what sits nearby.
The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Des Moines, IA at ISP Reports.Des Moines Property Crime Breakdown
The table below shows which non-violent crimes are used to calculate the Crime Grade above. All property crime rates are shown as the number of crimes per 1,000 Des Moines residents in a standard year.
Crime Type |
Crime Rate |
|---|---|
Theft |
8.253 |
Vehicle Theft |
2.504 |
Burglary |
1.744 |
Arson |
0.0961 |
Total Property Crime |
12.60 (C+) |
Individual Des Moines Crime Maps & Stats
Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities
Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of property crime in the Des Moines area is higher. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to the Des Moines area.
Nearby City | Overall Crime Grade | Violent Crime Grade | Property Crime Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
D+ | B | D+ | |
A- | A- | A- | |
B | B+ | A- | |
B- | B- | B- | |
C+ | B- | C | |
A- | B | A- | |
A- | A- | A- | |
A+ | A+ | A+ | |
A+ | B+ | A+ | |
A | C- | A+ |
Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations
Des Moines is lower versus other cities of the same size for property crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.
Similar City | Overall Crime Grade | Violent Crime Grade | Property Crime Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
B- | C+ | C+ | |
A- | B+ | B+ | |
D | D+ | D+ | |
C- | B- | B- | |
C+ | D | D | |
D- | D- | D- | |
D+ | B- | B- | |
B- | C- | C- | |
D+ | C | C | |
C+ | D | D |
Considering only the property crime rate, the Des Moines area is as safe as the Iowa state average and safer than the national average.
About the Data
CrimeGrade.org provides highly detailed and accurate crime data, used by insurance companies, home security firms, and other industries. Our data is available for licensing—learn more about our USA crime data and licensing.
Crime By Zip Code Download
Our proprietary data is available for download by zip code or by state in a CSV Flat File. Please visit our download page for pricing and terms.
Download CSV
Home Security
A crime occurs on average every 29 minutes in the Des Moines area. Want to protect your home?
Home Security Companies in Des Moines, IA
All maps and statistics above are projections, not certainties, and provided without guarantee free of charge. Verify all info before making any decisions based on the data.