Des Moines Concert Ticket Prices: Are They A Good Deal?

Next time your favorite group or musician announces a concert tour and you have a choice of which city to travel to, one factor that might be worth considering is comparing the cost of the concert ticket in each city. It might sound unfair, says the travel group Wanderu, but their study of 47 U.S. cities found that what you shell out to see Ed Sheeren, Janet Jackson or Katy Perry can range widely depending on the location.

For Iowans who generally travel to Des Moines for large-scale arena shows, those prices fall in the middle compared to the rest of the country, Wanderu found. Des Moines ranked 24th for ticket prices of large-scale arena tours in 2017 and 2018, with ticket prices averaging about 87 percent of the cost of a New York ticket, which was used as the base for the study. The group said factors such as venue fees and accommodation costs weigh into a ticket price, along with purchasing power of the region and public interest.

You would spend more for a ticket in Chicago than in Des Moines, but less in St. Louis or Minneapolis, Wanderu says. As it turns out, Los Angeles and Las Vegas are likely to take more of your money than anywhere else, while the best deals on concert costs — up to 60 percent less than the costliest cities — can be found in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Buffalo, N.Y.; New Orleans, La.; and Indianapolis, Ind.

The group found a top-tier ticket for Katy Perry’s Witness tour concert in Los Angeles would set you back $200.50, while a similar seat for her show in Grand Rapids, Mich., would only cost $128. Where Janet Jackson’s show at the Hollywood Bowl would cost $275.95, you would pay only about 40 percent of that in Little Rock, Ark., where tickets are $110.

Of course, not all tours follow the same pricing patterns, Wanderu noted. Some artists tend to charge the same amount regardless of location. For example, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s ongoing Soul2Soul tour fetches a top-tier ticket at $119.50 for the majority of stops. However, tickets for their shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas shows still cost more than the rest of the concerts in the tour.

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