Des Moines metropolitan area in the context of Polk County, Iowa

Story County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 98,537, making it the ninth-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Nevada; the largest city is Ames. The geographical center of Iowa lies in Story County, 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Ames. Story County comprises the Ames, IA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA Combined Statistical Area. The county is home to Iowa State University in Ames.

Des Moines is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County with parts extending into Warren County. It is named after the Des Moines River, likely derived from the French Rivière des Moines meaning 'River of the Monks'. The city was incorporated in 1851 as Fort Des Moines and shortened to Des Moines in 1857. Its population was 214,133 at the 2020 census, while the six-county Des Moines metropolitan area has an estimated 750,000 residents, the largest metropolitan area located entirely in Iowa.

Des Moines is a major center of the United States insurance industry and has a sizable financial services and publishing business base. The city is the headquarters for the Principal Financial Group and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. Other major corporations such as Wells Fargo, Cognizant, Voya Financial, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, ACE Limited, Bayer, and Corteva have large operations in or near the metropolitan area. In recent years, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Facebook have built data-processing and logistical facilities in the Des Moines area.

The Omaha metropolitan area, officially known as the Omaha, NE–IA, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), is an urbanized, bi-state metro region in Nebraska and Iowa in the American Midwest, centered on the city of Omaha, Nebraska. The region consists of eight counties (five in Nebraska and three in Iowa), and extends over a large area on both sides of the Missouri River. Covering 4,407 square miles (11,410 km) and with a population of 967,604 (2020), the Omaha metropolitan area is the most populous in both Nebraska and Iowa (although the Des Moines–West Des Moines MSA is the largest MSA centered entirely in Iowa), and is the 58th most populous MSA in the United States. The 2003 revision to metropolitan area definitions was accompanied by the creation of micropolitan areas and combined statistical areas. Fremont, in Dodge County, Nebraska, was designated a micropolitan area. The Omaha–Fremont Combined Statistical Area has a population of 1,058,125 (2020 estimate). Approximately 1.5 million people reside within the Greater Omaha area, within a 50 mi (80 km) radius of Downtown Omaha.

Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,548. The county seat is Winterset. Madison County is included in the Des Moines–West Des Moines, IA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Madison County is famous for being the county where John Wayne was born, and for a number of covered bridges. These bridges were featured in Robert James Waller's 1992 novella The Bridges of Madison County, as well as the 1995 film and 2014 musical based on it.

West Des Moines is a city in Iowa, United States. Most of the city is in Polk County, some of it is in Dallas County, and small portions extend into Warren and Madison Counties.

As of the 2020 census, the city population was 68,723. West Des Moines is the second most populous city in the Des Moines metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in Iowa.