Haley Voll
Founder & Partner
Legal Recruiting · Des Moines, IA
The Des Moines legal market, in the numbers we can verify.
We work the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA legal market off public data and firm-by-firm knowledge. Here is the local picture, and where a recruiter earns their keep beyond it.
Legal-sector footprint
The size of the Des Moines legal market
Federal employment data for the legal-services sector in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IAarea. This counts the whole legal sector, not attorneys alone, and is the most reliable public measure of how much legal work a market sustains.
2,812
Legal-sector jobs
447
Establishments
$164,216
Avg legal-sector wage
The Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA area supports 2,812 legal-sector jobs across 447 establishments, at an average wage of about $164,216 a year. Legal-sector employment is up 2.1% year over year, with average wages up 11.7%.
Source: BLS QCEW county files, private ownership, Q4 2024 vs Q4 2025. Iowa-side counties of the metro with disclosed data; wages employment-weighted; NAICS 5411 legal services (all legal-sector employment, not attorneys alone).
The part public data can't show you
The best Des Moines moves are rarely the posted ones.
Employment counts tell you a market is real. They do not tell you which Des Moines groups are quietly building, which firms flex on class year, or where your book and background put you at the front of the line. That is the read we give every attorney we work with, confidentially, before anything is sent anywhere. For the full state picture, including posted demand by practice area, see the Iowa market.
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