Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa and is home to one of Iowa's three Public Universities, the University of Northern Iowa. The population was 36,145 at the 2000 census. It is the smaller of two principal cities, by population, of and is included in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its name comes from being on the Cedar River. It was originally named Sturgis Falls, after William Sturgis, the first permanent white settler.

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 36,145 people, 12,833 households, and 7,558 families residing in the city. The population density was 493.1/km˛ (1,277.2/mi˛). There were 13,271 housing units at an average density of 181.1/km˛ (468.9/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city was 95.14% White, 1.57% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 1.61% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. 1.08% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 12,833 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.1% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.91.