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West Des Moines, Iowa has 5 accredited schools offering social work programs, with tuition ranging from $5,376 to $15,405 per year for indexed programs. West Des Moines has a population of about 69,893. Median household income is $84,925 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 54.6% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area, the top-earning social work-related role is Social Worker, All Other at a median $94,930 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer social work programs near West Des Moines, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from West Des Moines city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from West Des Moines. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Iowa schools on the Iowa social work page.
West Des Moines is part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area (BLS area code 19780). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Iowa statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child, Family, and School Social Worker | $56,280 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $61,374 |
| Healthcare Social Worker | $62,360 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $68,004 |
| Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker | $49,750 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $54,253 |
| Social Worker, All Other | $94,930 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $103,522 |
| Social and Community Service Manager | $73,840 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $80,523 |
| Social and Human Service Assistant | $45,760 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $49,902 |
| Community Health Worker | $46,790 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $51,025 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 69,893 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $84,925 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 54.6% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 91.7 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
| Social Work-related employment in Polk County | 9,182 workers, 706 establishments | BLS QCEW 2024 annual |
Accredited schools offering social work programs near West Des Moines are listed on this page, ranked by BOC Score and distance from the city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS and College Scorecard data on every site update, so it stays current as programs open and close.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying social work-related roles near West Des Moines are: Social Worker, All Other ($94,930), Social and Community Service Manager ($73,840), Healthcare Social Worker ($62,360). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Iowa statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Urbandale, IA is 6.0 miles from West Des Moines and has its own set of local social work programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
West Des Moines’s median household income of $84,925 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in West Des Moines while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Iowa public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for West Des Moines:
Data verified: July 23, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
