The Des Moines metropolitan area, officially known as the Des Moines–West Des Moines, IA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is located at the confluence of the Des Moines River and the Raccoon River. Des Moines serves as the capital of the U.S. state of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

The metro area consists of six counties in central Iowa:

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places *Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missouri ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, Guthrie, and

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

. The

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

–

Ames Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * Ames, New York * Ames, Oklah ...

–

West Des Moines West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the ...

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

(CSA) encompasses the separate metropolitan area of Ames (Story County), and the separate micropolitan areas of Pella (Marion County), Boone (Boone County) and Oskaloosa (Mahaska County). The Des Moines area is a fast-growing metro area. Des Moines–West Des Moines, IA Metropolitan Statistical Area Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA Combined Statistical Area

Geography

The lowest geographical point in the metropolitan area is the Des Moines River, where it passes the northeastern corner of Warren County, and the southeastern corner of Polk County.

Historical definitions

Polk County was originally the only county in the Des Moines metropolitan area when the United States Bureau of the Budget (now the

United States Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

) began defining metropolitan areas in 1950. Warren County was added in 1973 and Dallas County was added in 1983. Guthrie and Madison counties were added in 2003 after metropolitan areas were redefined. In 2005 the area was renamed the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area after a special census showed that West Des Moines had topped the 50,000 mark in population. Jasper county was added in September 2018.

Communities by size

Population as of 2020 Census

Principal City

(214,133)

Places with 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants

(68,723) * Ankeny (67,887)

Places with 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants

* Urbandale (45,580) * Johnston (24,064) *

Waukee Waukee is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,940 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. It is part of the Des Moines – West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2017, Apple Inc. chose Waukee as the loc ...

(23,940) * Altoona (19,565) *

Clive Clive is a name. People and fictional characters with the name include: People Given name * Clive Allen (born 1961), English football player * Clive Anderson (born 1952), British television, radio presenter, comedy writer and former barrister * ...

(18,601) *

Indianola Indianola may refer to: Places in the United States * Indianola, California (disambiguation) ** Indianola (Eureka), California * Indianola, Florida * Indianola, Georgia * Indianola, Illinois * Indianola, Iowa * Indianola, Kansas, a former settleme ...

(15,833) *

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

(15,760) *

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has in ...

(15,392) * Norwalk (12,799) * Pleasant Hill (10,147)

Places with 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants

* Perry (7,836) * Bondurant (7,365) * Adel (6,153) * Winterset (5,353) * Windsor Heights (5,252) *

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

(4,160) * Saylorville (

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

) (3,301) * Mitchellville (2,485) * Polk City (2,344) * Colfax (2,255) * Monroe (1,967) * Dallas Center (1,901) *

Stuart Stuart may refer to: Names * Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile *Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory Northe ...

(partial) (1,782) * Prairie City (1,700) * Granger (1,654) * Guthrie Center (1,593) * Van Meter (1,484) * Earlham (1,410) * Woodward (1,346) * Coon Rapids (partial) (1,300) * Panora (1,091)

Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

* Baxter (962) * De Soto (915) * Elkhart (882) * Sully (881) * Adair (partial) (791) * Milo (778) * Hartford (733) * Redfield (731) *

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

(640) * St. Charles (640) * Kellogg (606) * Truro (509) * New Virginia (498) * Runnells (457) * Cumming (436) *

Alleman Allman (variants Alleman, Allmand) is an English surname from the Norman French ''aleman'' "German". In North American usage, the spelling ''Allman'' likely also stands in for the cognate Spanish name Aleman (to avoid the reading /eɪlmæn/ as in ...

(423) * Martensdale (421) *

Bayard Bayard may refer to: People * Bayard (given name) *Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places * Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community *Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood *Bayard, ...

(405) * Casey (partial) (387) * Lynnville (380) * Lacona (345) * Menlo (345) * Minburn (325) *

Mingo The Mingo people are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans, primarily Seneca and Cayuga, who migrated west from New York to the Ohio Country in the mid-18th century, and their descendants. Some Susquehannock survivors also joined them, and ...

(302) * Sheldahl (partial) (297) *

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

(267) * Bagley (233) * Linden (200) *

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

(195) * Oakland Acres (176) * Patterson (176) * Lambs Grove (174) * Reasnor (152) * Bouton (127) * Dawson (116) * Ackworth (115) * East Peru (115) * St. Marys (108) * Macksburg (97) * Spring Hill (68) * Sandyville (58) * Bevington (57) * Valeria (39)

Unincorporated places

* Avon * Berwick * Booneville * Farrar *

Ira Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

* Killduff * Rushville * Liberty Center

Demographics of metropolitan area

As of the census of 2000, there were 481,394 people, 189,371 households, and 126,177 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 90.24%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 3.85%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.24% Native American, 2.15%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 2.00% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 4.02% of the population. The median income for a household in the MSA was $44,667, and the median income for a family was $52,617. Males had a median income of $34,710 versus $25,593 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $21,253. The census tracts for 2000 are shown in the map from the Iowa Data Center.

Economy

Des Moines is a major center of the US insurance industry and has a sizable financial services and publishing business base. The city was credited as the "number one spot for U.S. insurance companies" in a '' Business Wire'' article and named the third-largest "insurance capital" of the world. The city is the headquarters for the

Principal Financial Group Principal Financial Group is an American global financial investment management and insurance company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. Business operations Four segments comprise the company: Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal G ...

, Ruan Transportation, TMC Transportation, EMC Insurance Companies, and

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is a mutual insurance in the United States with more than two million members in Iowa and South Dakota. It is the dominant health insurance in Iowa. It is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Associ ...

. Other major corporations such as

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

, Cognizant,

Voya Financial Voya Financial is an American financial, retirement, investment and insurance company based in New York City. Voya began as ING U.S., the United States operating subsidiary of ING Group, which was spun off in 2013 and established independent fina ...

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and affiliated companies, commonly shortened to Nationwide, is a group of large U.S. insurance and financial services companies based in Columbus, Ohio. The company also operates regional headquarters in Scott ...

ACE Limited An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ca ...

, Marsh, Monsanto, and Corteva have large operations in or near the metropolitan area. In recent years,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

, and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

have built data-processing and logistical facilities in the Des Moines area. The Des Moines area is home to 5

Fortune 1000 The Fortune 1000 are the 1,000 largest American companies ranked by revenues, as compiled by the American business magazine ''Fortune''. It only includes companies which are incorporated or authorized to do business in the United States, and for ...

headquarters – 2021 rankings

Education

Colleges and universities

* Central College - Pella * Des Moines Area Community College - Des Moines, Ankeny, Boone, Carroll, Newton and West Des Moines *

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

- Des Moines * Faith Baptist Bible College - Ankeny * Grand View University - Des Moines *

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

- Ames *

Mercy College of Health Sciences Mercy College of Health Sciences is a private Roman Catholic college focused on healthcare and located in Des Moines, Iowa. Established by the Sisters of Mercy in 1899, Mercy College bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, and certificate programs ...

- Des Moines *

Purdue University Global Purdue University Global, Inc (PG), formerly Kaplan University, is a public university, public Distance education, online university that operates as a public-benefit nonprofit corporation, public-benefit corporation and is part of the Purdue Un ...

- Des Moines * Simpson College - Indianola and West Des Moines *

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree lev ...

- Des Moines * William Penn University - Oskaloosa

Sports

Transportation

Airports

Des Moines International Airport Des Moines International Airport is a commercial service airport 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, the capital of Iowa. The airport's 2,600 acre campus includes two runways, 46 buildings, 7 parking facilities, and ...

(DSM) ''Relief Airports'' *

Ankeny Regional Airport Ankeny Regional Airport is a mile (2 km) southeast of Ankeny, in Polk County, Iowa. It is owned by the Polk County Aviation Authority. Facilities The airport covers at an elevation of 910 feet (277 m). It has two concrete runways: 18/36 ...

(IKV) *

Ames Municipal Airport James Herman Banning Ames Municipal Airport is southeast of Ames, in Story County, Iowa. Originally consisting of two turf runways, the airport was created after a 1943 vote by the city of Ames. A new terminal and hangar were constructed in 20 ...

(AMW) *

Boone Municipal Airport Boone Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) southeast of the central business district of Boone, a city in Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is included in the National Plan of Inte ...

(BNW) *

Grinnell Regional Airport Grinnell Regional Airport , known locally as ''Billy Robinson Field'', is a city-owned public-use airport located one mile (1.6 km) south of the central business district of Grinnell, a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. I ...

(GGI) * Guthrie County Regional Airport (GCT) * Newton Municipal Airport (TNU) * Oskaloosa Municipal Airport (OOA) * Winterset Municipal Airport (343)

Major Highways

Interstates * I-35 (IA)

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

I-80 * I-235 (IA)

I-235 U S Highways * US 6

US 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to ...

US 65 U.S. Route 65 (US 65) is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 425 in Clayton, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at Interstate 35 just south of In ...

US 69 Iowa Highways * Elongated circle 5

IA 5 *

IA 28 * Elongated circle 141

IA 141 * Elongated circle 163

IA 163 *

IA 415

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Des Moines Metropolitan Area Regions of Iowa Geography of Des Moines, Iowa