Dog cremation in Des Moines: a calm, practical guide
By our estimate, 45,000 Des Moines households share their home with a dog. When the time comes for yours, here's how cremation works locally and what it usually costs.
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Des Moines, Iowa
Who handles dog aftercare in Des Moines
Des Moines has a true Midwestern climate: humid summers in the mid-80s with thunderstorms, and cold winters with January lows around 14F and freezing weather from November into March. In the cold months, a pet's body will keep longer in a cool room, but don't leave it in an unheated garage where it may freeze. In summer heat, keep the body cool with ice packs and call promptly.
Iowa families have long buried pets in the backyard, but in Des Moines the ground is frozen for months, and many people now rent or live in apartments. An individual cremation, where the ashes come back to you, lets you keep your pet close and decide later whether to bury the ashes in spring, scatter them or keep them at home. It's become a common choice across central Iowa.
Some Des Moines providers are based just outside the city limits, near Des Moines or along main roads out of town, because crematories need space and permits. That's normal. What matters is whether they collect from your address and how long the round trip takes for the ashes to come back.
Des Moines is home to about 212,086 people, the largest of the 27 Iowa communities we cover.
Nearby, we also have local pages for West Des Moines (8 miles), Altoona (9 miles) and Urbandale (9 miles), which can help if your vet or the provider you prefer is based there.
Our estimate
45,000
How many dog-owning households Des Moines has (estimate)
How we calculated this
212,086 ÷ 2.5 = 84,834 households; × 53% (dog) = 45,000. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
3,550
dog deaths per year in Des Moines, our estimate
How we calculated this
45,000 dog-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs) ≈ 3,550 a year. The real figure is unlikely to be lower.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
63.6%[3]
The NFDA projected Iowa's cremation rate at 63.6% for 2024.
$260[4]
CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for private dog cremation at $260 (range $206-$473).
None of the figures on this this page are ours alone: they rest on Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
Local habits around cremation and burial
Cremation is now chosen for about 63.6%[3] of people in Iowa, but there are still plenty of places here where a backyard grave is how dogs have always been laid to rest. Neither tradition is wrong. What we'd suggest is simply choosing on purpose rather than by default: ask what each option costs and involves, then decide what fits your dog, your home and your family.
For the Iowa figure we rely on NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Read it as a picture of local custom around death and remembrance in Des Moines rather than as pet data.
Heat, cold and collection times in Des Moines
Power cuts and heating failures during Des Moines's cold months (January, February, March, November and December) can catch families out when an elderly dog needs warmth. Keep a thick bed off the floor, a spare blanket and a plan for somewhere warm to go. If your dog dies during a long cold spell, a chilly room works in your favor: you can wait for the roads to clear and for the right provider without any rush.
If you're driving your dog to the vet or crematory yourself on a winter day, a cold car actually helps. Lay your dog on a blanket in the back, with a towel underneath, and drive carefully. In January, when lows average about 14°F, check the roads before you set off, and don't feel you have to go that day if conditions are poor; your dog will keep safely in the cold.
What you'll likely pay, and what adds to it
By our estimate, private cremation gets cheaper per pound as dogs get bigger: roughly $9 a pound for a 15 lb dog, about $4.20 at 60 lb and around $4 at 100 lb[5]. So a large dog costs more in total, but not in proportion to its size. When you compare Des Moines quotes, check which weight band your dog falls into; a dog just over a band line can tip into the next price.
Put another way: around 3,550 dogs die in Des Moines each year (our estimate), and private cremation averages $260[4] nationally. That adds up to roughly $0.9 million a year locally, which is why prices and packages differ so much from one provider to the next.
Prices for Des Moines track the wider Iowa market, so use the Iowa price table as your baseline and the services page to see what is included.
Free tool
Cremation cost calculator
Estimate a realistic price range for your pet's size, location and the type of cremation.
Burial and scattering rules for Iowa
Most of what happens after a dog dies is up to you, but not quite all of it. In Iowa, as elsewhere, rules come into play when you want to bury a body or scatter ashes somewhere other than your own garden. If your plan is a private cremation and an urn on a shelf, there's almost nothing to check. If it involves digging or scattering, the points below are worth a minute.
To find your county or city office in Iowa, start with the official Iowa local government directory.
We keep Iowa's burial and scattering rules in one place: the Iowa rules summary. Before a home burial in Des Moines, also ask the city whether local ordinances add anything.
What to do first, and what can wait
- If your dog dies at night, you don't need to call anyone until morning unless you want to. Move your dog to a cool room and cover them with a sheet.
- Put a towel or puppy pad underneath. It's normal for a dog's bladder or bowels to release after death.
- Gently curl your dog into a natural sleeping position during the first hours, while the body is still soft. Both the lifting later and the goodbye itself are easier that way.
- In the morning, call your vet or a crematory that serves Des Moines. Tell them your dog's approximate weight and where they are.
- Ask for the price in writing, and make sure it covers the pickup, whichever cremation type you've chosen and the container the ashes arrive in.
- Take a paw print, a lock of fur or their collar now, ahead of pickup, if a keepsake would mean something.
- Write down the expected return date for the ashes and who will contact you when they're ready.
Keeping your dog close
Des Moines is a city of older bungalows and foursquares in neighborhoods like Beaverdale and Drake, newer homes in the suburbs spreading toward Ankeny, Waukee and West Des Moines, and a growing number of downtown apartments. Distances are easy by big-city standards, but the metro sprawls. Include your neighborhood or suburb in your request, so we can shortlist providers who collect from home.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, run the numbers with the free planning tools, go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles, Compare every option on our services page. Close to Des Moines we also cover West Des Moines, Davenport, Iowa City and Sioux City; the full list for Iowa and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
Would you send a favourite toy or blanket with your dog?
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For your dog, would you choose private or communal cremation?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Free tools to help you plan
Cremation cost calculator
Estimate a realistic price range for your pet's size, location and the type of cremation.
Urn size calculator
Find the urn volume you need from your pet's weight, plus keepsake and sharing options.
Pet age & senior years calculator
Convert your pet's age and see when senior-care and planning conversations usually start.
Questions people ask
Roughly how many dogs die in Des Moines each year?
Our estimate is around 3,550. It comes from Des Moines's population (about 212,086), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog (about 45,000 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
How does Des Moines's weather affect dog aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Des Moines, with average highs around 86°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February, March, November and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
How do Iowa attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the Iowa human cremation rate at about 63.6%[3]. We show it on the Des Moines page because pet aftercare choices tend to track it: where cremation is normal for people, communal and private pet cremation are both easy to find.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Des Moines?
Usually yes. West Des Moines is about 8 miles away, Altoona is about 9 miles away and Urbandale is about 9 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Are there enough pet crematories to serve Des Moines?
By our estimate, around 3,550 dogs die in Des Moines each year, from roughly 45,000 dog-owning households. Not every family chooses cremation, but demand on that scale supports several options in most regions. The number of providers physically in Des Moines matters less than how many collect from your address and how quickly they return the ashes.
Is it legal to bury my dog at home in Iowa?
In many places it is, with conditions such as depth, distance from water and whether you own the property. Rules vary within Iowa too, so check with your city or county before digging. If you rent or might move, cremation lets you keep your dog with you.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] The NFDA projected Iowa's cremation rate at 63.6% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [4] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for private dog cremation at $260 (range $206-$473). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [5] Private cremation cost per pound falls with size in the US: roughly $9.2/lb for a 15 lb pet, $4.2/lb at 60 lb and about $4.0/lb at 100 lb. Our estimate: band midpoint price / representative weight: 0-30 lb (midpoint $137.50 / 15 lb) = $9.17/lb; 51-70 lb ($250 / 60 lb) = $4.17/lb; over 90 lb ($400 / ~100 lb) = $4.00/lb. How we calculate.
- [6] At least about 5.6 million pet dogs likely die in the US each year (lower-bound style estimate using one dog per dog-owning household). Our estimate: US dog-owning households (71M) x 1 dog / US dog life expectancy (12.69 yrs). How we calculate.
Get dog cremation options in Des Moines
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