The Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in Iowa anchored by the city of Iowa City. The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had a population of 161,170 people in the 2013 US Census Bureau population estimate. growing 1.8 ompared to 2012, or 5.6 ompared to 2010. This is slightly more than the Des Moines metropolitan area with a 5.3 percentage increase between 2010 and 2013.