A flourishing center for arts and theatre in Eastern Iowa, the city is home to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the Paramount Theatre, and the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance. The city is also an economic hub of the state and is at the core of the Interstate 380 Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor of Linn, Benton, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties. The estimated population of the three-county Metropolitan Statistical Area which includes nearby cities of Marion and Hiawatha, was 252,784 in 2007. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 126,396 in 2007. The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor has an estimated population of 423,353 as of 2006.
Cedar Rapids has been residence to famous figures for the United States, including American Gothic painter Grant Wood, journalist and historian William L. Shirer, writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten, and aerodynamics pioneer Dr. Alexander Lippisch. In the 1990s and 2000s, Hollywood would feature several Cedar Rapidians including actors Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood and Ron Livingston. The city is also the setting for a musical, "The Pajama Game" .
The name Cedar Rapids is named for the Cedar River. Cedar Rapids is nicknamed the City of Five Seasons for the traditional four seasons and a "fifth season" which is a time to enjoy the other four. The symbol of the five seasons is the Tree of Five Seasons sculpture in downtown Cedar Rapids along the north river bank. The name "Five Seasons" and representations of the sculpture appear throughout the city in many forms.
As of the census of 2000, there were 120,758 people, 49,820 households, and 30,838 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,912.6 people per square mile (738.4/km²). There were 52,240 housing units at an average density of 827/sq mi (319/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.86% White, 3.71% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.77% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 1.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.71% of the population.
There were 49,820 households out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $43,704, and the median income for a family was $54,286. Males had a median income of $37,217 versus $26,251 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,589. About 4.9% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.
Cedar Rapids is 90 percent non-Hispanic white, but has a notably large growing minority population. There are Asian (such as Cambodians arrived in the 1980s), Arab-American and Hispanic communities after an influx of immigrants came for available work in the 1990s. The region has a scattered number of African Americans and they are active in civic life, and an Indian settlement of the Sac and Fox of the Mississippi in Iowa 50 miles (80 km) to the West. The city itself has large numbers of ethnic European ancestry, such as Germans (an estimated 30 percent), Czechs (over 10 percent alone), Slovaks, Croatians, Serbs, Russians, Dutch, Danish, Swedes and French (from either France and Canada).
Cedar Rapids has played an important role in Muslim culture in the United States. The National Muslim Cemetery on 12 acres (49,000 m) of land donated by Haj. Yahya William Aossey in 1948 is said to be the first exclusively Muslim cemetery in the United States (it is unrelated to the United States military National Cemetery system). Graves in the cemetery face Mecca. The Mother Mosque of America dedicated on June 16, 1934 was one of the first permanent structures built specifically to serve as a mosque in the United States. In 1972 another newer mosque was built and the original mosque was sold and was to fall into disrepair before being purchased in 1990 by the Islamic Council of Iowa and renovated. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Iowa flood of 2008 extensively damaged the basement destroying several historic documents.
Muslim presence in Cedar Rapids dates to 1895 when the first immigrants arrived from the Beqaa Valley in today's Lebanon and Syria. Organizations now claim to have the oldest running organization in the United States of granting Halal certificates (for Iowa food products).
Cedar Rapids is served by The Eastern Iowa Airport (formerly known as the Cedar Rapids Airport), a regional airport that connects with other regional and international airports.
Interstate 380, part of the Avenue of the Saints, runs north-south through Cedar Rapids. U.S. Highways 30, 151, and 218 and Iowa Highway 13 and Iowa Highway 100 also serve the city.
Cedar Rapids is served by four major railroads. They are the Union Pacific, the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway (Crandic), the Canadian National, and the Iowa Northern Railway Company [IANR]. The Iowa Northern Railway has its headquarters in the historic Paramount Theater Building. The Crandic and the Iowa Interstate Railroad also are headquartered in Cedar Rapids. The Iowa Interstate reaches the city via the Crandic tracks, running a daily train from Iowa City, Iowa to Cedar Rapids.
The city is also served by Cedar Rapids Transit consisting of buses and taxis, as well as a series of skywalks connecting several downtown buildings for foot traffic.