As sluggish growth persists in the state of Iowa, micropolitan areas may provide a viable source for expanding development. This thesis has two primary objectives: to better understand those factors driving population growth among micropolitan areas and to explore micropolitan areas in the state of Iowa as compared to micropolitan areas in other parts of the country. The analyses show a relationship between four of the five growth factors (agglomeration, recreation, immigration, education and diversification) and effective growth rate, the difference between micropolitan population growth and statewide population growth. As the number of qualifying categories increase for a micropolitan area, effective growth rates also increase. Recreation-related factors had the strongest relationship to growth both in Iowa and nationwide. Agglomeration factors performed better in Iowa than nationally, but education factors performed worse. Many Iowa micropolitan areas can capitalize on existing resources in an effort to stimulate population growth.