City comparison
Des Moines, IA is about 800 miles (1,300 km) from Roanoke, VA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,000 miles, or about 16 hours behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Des Moines, IA to Roanoke, VA takes about 1 h 34 min, covering roughly 800 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Des Moines, IA is on Central Time and Roanoke, VA is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Des Moines, it's 1 p.m. in Roanoke, which puts Des Moines 1 hours behind.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Des Moines has a population of 213,164, vs 99,213 in Roanoke — about 2.1× larger by population. By land area, Des Moines covers about 88 sq mi vs 43 sq mi for Roanoke.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Des Moines | Roanoke | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $995/mo | $917/mo | 8.5% higher in Des Moines |
| Median home value | $170,700 | $162,000 | 5.4% higher in Des Moines |
| Median household income | $62,378 | $51,523 | 21.1% higher in Des Moines |
| Groceries index | 94.0 | 96.9 | 3.2% higher in Roanoke |
| Utilities index | 85.2 | 89.4 | 4.9% higher in Roanoke |
| Transportation index | 93.3 | 98.8 | 5.9% higher in Roanoke |
| Healthcare index | 93.5 | 98.3 | 5.1% higher in Roanoke |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Des Moines, you'd need $99,932 in Roanoke to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Des Moines and Roanoke have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 8% higher in Des Moines than in Roanoke. If you earn $80,000 in Des Moines, you'd need about $79,946 in Roanoke to keep the same standard of living.