The City of West Des Moines has a AAA bond rating from

Standard and Poor’s.

The City of West Des Moines has a Aa1 bond rating from

Moody’s.

West Des Moines is the 9th largest city in Iowa, but is 4th highest in terms of taxable

property valuation.

WDM leads the ten largest cities in the state of Iowa with just under $56,000 in per capita

property valuation.

West Des Moines has the 3rd lowest tax rate among Iowa’s

largest cities.

West Des Moines has the 4th highest taxable sales of any city

in Iowa

Since January 1, 2000, West Des Moines has issued building permits with a value of over

$1.65 billion.

Since January 1, 2000, West Des Moines has issued over $860

million in commercial building permits, representing over 7.9

million square feet of new commercial, office, and

industrial building.

Since January 1, 2000, West Des Moines has issued residential

building permits with a value of over $653 million.

West Des Moines’ population has gone from 46,403 in 2000 to an estimated 55,306 in February

2008 – a 19.2% increase.

In June of 2005 there were 47,312 jobs in West Des Moines.

In June of 2007 there were 53,417 jobs in West Des Moines.

A 12.9% increase in two years!

The current daytime population of West Des Moines is 117,500.

In 2007, the City of West Des Moines’ largest regional mall

attracted over 25 million visitors.

Citizen Survey scores show that 92% of residents are satisfied or very satisfied

with the overall quality of life in West Des Moines.

In 29 Citizen Survey categories benchmarked against cities of similar size across the nation, the City of West Des Moines

scored above the mean score in every category and received the highest ranking in 11 (or 38%) of

categories.

Two new hospitals broke ground in West Des Moines in 2007.

Aviva, the world’s fifth largest insurance group, broke ground

on a 1.3 million square foot headquarters campus for Aviva USA in 2008. The campus will

eventually serve 1500 employees.

West Des Moines’ Aquatic Centers accommodated over 137,000 visitors in

2007

West Des Moines is one of only 5 cities in the nation to have all

three public safety departments accredited.

The Des Moines Business Record has named West Des Moines

"The Best City Government Conducive to Business"

each year from 1998 – 2007.

The City of West Des Moines was voted as one of America's Best Small

Cities “offering ample job opportunities, good schools and lots

to do on safe streets” in Money Magazine's August 2006 publication regarding America's Best Places to

Live.

FORTUNE Small Business (FSB) named West Des Moines in the Top 100 Places to

Live and Launch a Small Business in a 2008 issue of CNN Money. To compile this list, FSB searched the nation for towns that

"combine a great business environment with alluring leisure offerings."

The Wells Fargo Complex in West Des Moines was named one

of the Top Ten Economic Development Projects of the

Year by Site Selection Magazine in 2004.

Sperling and Sander's "Cities Ranked & Rated" named Des

Moines-West Des Moines in the Top 50 Cities.

West Des Moines, Iowa is located at the crossroads of interstates 35 and

80. West Des Moines is the fastest

growing community in Iowa.