2025 Compare Cities Rankings:
Manchester, CT vs Des Moines, IA

#3 Best Cities for Teleworking - Medium Metro Areas

#4 Most Popular Cities for the Holidays

#5 America's Best Cities for a Healthy Retirement

#6 Most Romantic Cities for Boomers

#7 America's Top Hygge Cities

#9 Failure To Lunch

#12 Gloomiest Places in America

#12 Best Cities for Board Gamers

#14 America's Most Playful Cities

#15 Most Energetic Cities

#18 Best Airports to Make a Connection

#18 America's Best and Worst Cities for Crime (Large Metro Areas)

#20 2005 High Gas Prices

#21 Most Comfortable Summer Cities

#28 Most and Least Risky Places for Identity Theft

#33 The Most Single Cities

#36 Most Competitive Private Colleges

#37 Sleepless Cities 2011

#41 High Gas Prices - Which Cities are Hit the Hardest?

#42 Most Irritation Prone Cities

#43 Worst Cities for Respiratory Infections

#52 The Most (and Least) Gender Imbalanced Cities

#58 America's Migraine Hot Spots

#61 Drought-Riskiest Cities

#78 America's Most (and Least) Stressful Cities (100 Largest Metro Areas)

#82 Best Green Cities

#253 2005 Best Places to Live

#2 Most Secure Places to Live in the U.S. (Large Metro Areas)

#6 The Best Cities to Relocate to in America

#12 America's Migraine Hot Spots

#19 Most Secure Places to Live 2011 (Large Metros)

#20 Most Secure Large Cities in the U.S.

#35 Best Block Party Places

#52 2005 Best Places to Live

#54 Most Comfortable Summer Cities

#67 America's Best and Worst Cities for Crime (Mid-Size Metro Areas)

#88 Most Popular Cities for the Holidays

#93 Drought-Riskiest Cities

#145 Best Green Cities

My husband and I moved to CT 20 years ago. He was headhunted by a firm in Hartford, and they made a good enough salary offer to bring us here. Oy, the sticker shock!  More

It Sucks No work no friendly  More

Manchester is a gateway to Hartford. Then its all down hill from there. watch out  More

Des Moines is a ok and pretty quiet place but as a teen it could be dramatic because Des Moines do have is fair or violents places to avoid in Des Moines would be the  More

This city is violent, there are too many gangs especially on the north  More

Good for the old that like slow pace and cheap buffets. Also good for non-descript mid-westerners that don't like a lot of action. No nightlife or mountains to hike  More