City comparison
Philadelphia, PA is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from West Des Moines, IA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,200 miles, or about 20 hours (about 2 days at 10 h/day) 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 Philadelphia, PA to West Des Moines, IA takes about 1 h 58 min, covering roughly 1,000 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.
Philadelphia, PA is on Eastern Time and West Des Moines, IA is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Philadelphia, it's 11 a.m. in West Des Moines, which puts Philadelphia 1 hours ahead.
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.
Philadelphia has a population of 1,593,208, vs 68,744 in West Des Moines — about 23.2× larger by population. By land area, Philadelphia covers about 135 sq mi vs 47 sq mi for West Des Moines.
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 | Philadelphia | West Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,250/mo | $1,153/mo | 8.4% higher in Philadelphia |
| Median home value | $215,500 | $266,700 | 23.8% higher in West Des Moines |
| Median household income | $57,537 | $82,345 | 43.1% higher in West Des Moines |
| Groceries index | 97.0 | 94.0 | 3.3% higher in Philadelphia |
| Utilities index | 112.3 | 85.2 | 31.8% higher in Philadelphia |
| Transportation index | 101.7 | 93.3 | 9.0% higher in Philadelphia |
| Healthcare index | 102.7 | 93.5 | 9.8% higher in Philadelphia |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Philadelphia, you'd need $84,058 in West Des Moines to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
West Des Moines, IA is about 15.9% cheaper overall than Philadelphia, PA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 31% higher in Philadelphia than in West Des Moines. If you earn $80,000 in Philadelphia, you'd need about $67,246 in West Des Moines to keep the same standard of living.