Cedar Rapids, IA Metro Area

The Cedar Rapids, IA metro area is made up of 3 counties in Iowa: Linn, Benton, and Jones, largest first. About 279,285 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 1.0% more than in April 2020.

Benton County, outlyingJones County, outlyingLinn County, centralCedar Rapids
Central Outlying 3 counties in Iowa
Population, July 2025
279,285 1.0% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
3: 1 central, 2 outlying
Land area
2,009 sq mi (5,203 km²)
Time zone
Central TimeUTC-06:00 in January; UTC-05:00 in July
State
Iowa
Combined statistical area
Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, IA
CBSA code
16300

Counties in the Cedar Rapids, IA metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Linn CountyCentral232,02883.1%
Benton CountyOutlying26,0049.3%
Jones CountyOutlying21,2537.6%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central county, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Cedar Rapids137,264 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, IA combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other area in this one is

  1. Iowa City, IA Metro Area182,711 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Iowa City, IA Metro Area23 mi south
  2. Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area50 mi northwest
  3. Dubuque, IA Metro Area62 mi northeast
  4. Clinton, IA Micro Area74 mi east

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗