Iowa Is “The Insurance State”

(Des Moines, IA)  —  More than 180 insurance companies are now headquartered in Iowa — and Iowa Economic Development Authority director Debi Durham says no other state gets a higher percentage of its Gross Domestic Product from the insurance and finance industry. “We took over the number one place in the nation ranking as far as GDP growth for insurance,” Durham says. “It used to be Delaware, Connecticut, then Iowa.” According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the insurance industry accounts for at least 16 percent of the jobs in metro Des Moines.