A Local Expert's Guide To the Top Budget-Friendly Neighborhoods to Rent in Des Moines, Iowa
I'm Joe, the ApartmentHomeLiving.com Local Expert for Des Moines and Central Iowa. My parents moved to Central Iowa in 1967, and my family has been here ever since. While many folks on the coasts may think of Iowa as a quiet place, I'm still surprised by the vibrant things all around me. Iowa has a rich cultural life, good educational opportunities, and good employment prospects for newcomers. My task today is to help newcomers, and those considering moving to Iowa for work or school, find a good place to live in Des Moines.
Des Moines, besides being the capital of Iowa, has lots of jobs in the insurance, banking, medical and educational sectors. While it's considered an expensive place to live by Iowa standards, it is relatively cheap by U.S. standards. Des Moines is (mostly) safe, by big city standards. For most places in Des Moines, traffic is considered awful by the residents for about forty-five minutes in the morning and evening, while visitors from other big cities wonder what all the fuss is about. The city has a very efficient beltway, I-35/80, and a central highway, I-235, which moves traffic from the outskirts to the core of Des Moines quickly.
Finding a place in Des Moines that meets your budget shouldn't be too difficult, but if you're like me or many other renters, you'll want to consider other factors, like the amenities available in a property, the character of the neighborhood, or even the style of the building. I've been in and around Des Moines almost all my life, and I know the region fairly well.
Many local residents prefer either the western suburbs of Des Moines, like Urbandale, Clive or West Des Moines, or living even further out, in communities like Newton, Ames, Boone, or Ankeny. Certainly, crime in those places is lower, and the schools are frankly better in most smaller communities. On the other hand, gas prices are a consideration these days, and most of the neighborhoods in Des Moines are pretty safe.
Amenities are also an issue. If you are looking for a perfectly modern apartment building, with all the modern conveniences, perhaps a swimming pool, or an exercise room, you may wish to start with suburbs like West Des Moines or Urbandale, or with the newest apartments for college students in Ames. There are many choices which will meet your needs admirably. If cost is a consideration, or if you simply want a place with more character, you may wish to begin your search in some of the neighborhoods of Des Moines.
North-West Des Moines: Beaverdale, Meredith and Lower Beaver
Let's start in the north-west corner of the city, by looking at:
I've grouped these three because they are highly similar, and have much the same vibe to them.
Beaverdale, together with Meredith and the Lower Beaver neighborhood, are in the northwest part of Des Moines. For reasons I can’t explain, the Lower Beaver neighborhood is north and a bit east of the Beaverdale neighborhood. The Meredith neighborhood is west of Lower Beaver, and north of Beaverdale.
The area developed as a separate community in the 1880’s. Although it was annexed to the city way back in the 1890’s, the place retains a distinct suburban feel to it. A small commercial area of one-and two-story brick storefronts developed along Beaver Avenue, and this still provides a hub for the community to this day, with a number of restaurants and small boutique businesses.
As we go west along Meredith Avenue, leaving the Lower Beaver neighborhood and crossing into the Meredith neighborhood, we find more conventional apartment buildings and townhomes. If we continue west, we find more commercial buildings as we cross into the Merle Hay neighborhood, and the density of development declines a bit as we go further west; space isn’t used as intensively going into the suburbs.
Both Beaverdale and the Lower Beaver neighborhood look like the small Iowa community it once was. Besides the brick storefronts, there are tree-lined streets, and a mix of mostly modest single-family homes, and conversions into duplexes. A few larger apartment buildings can be found, but these don’t predominate. Meredith is similar, but has more commercial space and more apartment buildings.
The demographics of Beaverdale and the Lower Beaver neighborhood are skewed towards elderly residents. A high proportion, according to U.S. Census Data, are over the age of 60. Younger people, below the age of 30, are under-represented in the area. The place is an established, quiet neighborhood, and I always remember it as such, even from my youth.
This part of Des Moines has four elementary schools, Moore, Monroe, Hillis and Perkins. It is served by Meredith Middle School and Hoover high school. Holy Trinity School provides a Catholic educational choice for pre-school to eighth grade students.
NW Beaver Drive provides a quick exit from Des Moines, for commuters headed to Ames and Iowa State University. Going the other direction, NW Beaver Drive forks, becoming Lower Beaver Road, and continuing towards the south-east, and the Lower Beaver neighborhood. Lower Beaver Road then leads to Euclid Avenue and King Parkway, bringing commuters to the east side of Drake University, and on into the downtown. The other branch, Beaver Avenue, leads one to Beaverdale, and the west side of Drake University, then provides access to the southwest suburbs.
North-West Des Moines: the Merle Hay Neighborhood
The Merle Hay neighborhood, centered on Merle Hay Road, gets separate consideration since it is a more heavily commercial district. There are lots of strip malls along Merle Hay, and along the major east-west streets that run into it. There are also a number of conventional apartment buildings and townhouses available for rent, besides the single-family houses and converted houses found in other parts of northwest Des Moines.
Merle Hay Mall, one of the oldest malls in the state, was once the centerpiece of the area. Today, like many local malls, it has fallen on hard times, and doesn't have much activity.
The Drake Neighborhoods
The next set of neighborhoods we'll look at are the ones around Drake University. Again, I've grouped them because they are highly similar both in demographics and in the sort of housing they offer. Drake University is the largest private university in Iowa, with nearly 3000 undergraduates and 1900 graduate students. It offers a decent law school, and a pharmacy school which is consistently ranked as one of the best in the United States.
Let's look at the neighborhoods around Drake. I'll talk about:
The heart of these neighborhoods is University Avenue, one of the main east-west arteries which cross Des Moines, and which marks the southern boundary of the area. Along the south and east sides of Drake University, a campus town commercial zone offers a vibrant mix of cafés and little boutique shops. The University itself offers many fine arts and music events for entertainment.
Every April, the Drake Relays bring world-class track and field athletes from around the world to compete. This year, 2025, saw the 115th running of the event.
As we go north into the neighborhood, along Carpenter Avenue or Forest Avenue, we enter the Carpenter and Ingleside neighborhoods. Housing options include a mix of single-family houses, houses converted into duplexes and four-plexes, as well as a number of specially built duplexes or four-plexes. Some of the commercial buildings may have upstairs apartments available, and a number of small, old Art-Deco apartment buildings survive on the south side of University Avenue towards the west, a relic of a bygone era. I had occasion to visit a friend in one of these many years ago, and it seemed nice enough, but I can't say to what extent any of them retain their original 1920's-era character, or to what extent they've been updated.
If we go west along University Avenue, the neighborhoods open up more, with more single-family houses. Some of these have been converted into home-business offices, others into offices. The area becomes more affluent, and the homes more expensive as we travel west.
Traffic around Drake University and along University Avenue is one of the more irritating features of life in Des Moines. University is a four-lane road, and already inadequate as such. Nevertheless, on-street parking is allowed in places. To make matters worse, if you go far enough west on University, you eventually arrive at Windsor Heights, a suburb with the distinction of being Iowa's most cordially hated speed trap. I view the Drake neighborhoods as a nice enough place to live, but I never liked to drive there.
The King-Irving Park District
If we drive east along University Avenue from Drake University we arrive at the King-Irving Park District. Since the 1970's, or even before, this neighborhood had a reputation as one of the toughest, most run-down, and most crime-ridden places in the entire city. Starting in about 2005, and for the last twenty years, city officials have poured a great deal of urban redevelopment money into the neighborhood. Developers have built a number of new homes and new rental properties. While the area has improved remarkably, it still retains a rough look in many places, and a bad reputation.
I spent a number of years working as an adjunct teacher in local community colleges in Central Iowa. My least favorite gigs were the ones at the Central Campus of the Des Moines Area Community College, which is located in the King-Irving neighborhood. I didn't care to drive down to the area even in broad daylight, and I especially hated going there at night. I wouldn't recommend it.
Doudna Heights
The Doudna Heights neighborhood, like the River Hills neighborhood immediately to the south, has a wide array of Victorian-era homes. Unlike River Hills, Doudna Heights has not attracted the same level of attention from developers or historic preservation specialists looking to refurbish properties to their former grandeur. If you want to rent a Victorian house with character, or a part of one, I might start my search in this neighborhood.
Doudna Heights is directly west of the Des Moines River; further south along the river is a big park that includes the Botanical Center. This is always a favorite place for me, as it offers a perpetual springtime under its dome, even in the height of winter.
This area is close to downtown, and that makes it an easy commute for workers.
