515 Area Code 🌍☎️

Des Moines is the capital and most populous city in Iowa with a 2020 population of 214,133, anchoring a six-county metropolitan area of approximately 750,000 residents - the largest metropolitan area located entirely in the state. The city, named after the Des Moines River and incorporated in 1851 as Fort Des Moines before being shortened to Des Moines in 1857, has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years as evidenced by archaeological sites including a well-preserved 7,000-year-old settlement discovered in 2010. Des Moines is a major center of the U.S. insurance industry and serves as headquarters for the Principal Financial Group and Wellmark Blue Shield, with significant operations from Wells Fargo, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Voya Financial, and recent tech facilities from Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Facebook. The city holds unique importance in U.S. presidential politics as the site of the first caucuses in the presidential primary cycle, earning recognition from The New York Times as arguably the best place to witness presidential candidates up close. Des Moines is located at the junction of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers in Polk County, with portions extending into Warren County. Ames is Iowa's ninth-most populous city with 66,427 residents according to the 2020 census, located approximately 30 miles north of Des Moines in Story County in central Iowa. The city was founded in 1864 as a railroad station stop on the Cedar Rapids and Missouri Railroad and named after U.S. Congressman Oakes Ames of Massachusetts, a key figure in building the transcontinental railroad. Ames is home to Iowa State University, which enrolled 30,177 students in fall 2023 and comprises approximately half the city's population, making it the primary driver of Ames's economy and character. The city hosts significant federal research and agricultural facilities, including Ames National Laboratory (a U.S. Department of Energy facility), the USDA's National Animal Disease Center (the largest federal animal disease center in the United States), and the headquarters of the Iowa Department of Transportation. The city spans 24.27 square miles with a humid continental climate and features the historic Ames Main Street District and Campustown, a high-density mixed-use neighborhood south of the university campus. Winterset is the county seat of Madison County, Iowa, located 30 miles southwest of Des Moines in the state's rolling farmland as part of the Des Moines metropolitan area, with a population of 5,353 according to the 2020 census. The city was platted in 1849 during an unseasonably cold summer, which led commissioners to name it "Winterset" instead of the originally planned "Summerset." Winterset is most famous as the birthplace of actor John Wayne and is situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 169 and Iowa State Highway 92 in central Madison County. The city experienced significant tragedy on March 5, 2022, when a low-end EF4 tornado struck areas just outside the city, killing six people. With a hot-summer humid continental climate and a median age of 40.1 years, Winterset serves as a regional hub in Iowa's agricultural heartland.