County Maps US

Buena Vista County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 31 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19021

Within Iowa
Buena Vista County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Storm Lake, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
20,449
-351 (-1.7%) since 2020
Land area
574.9
square miles. A further 0.9% of the total area is water
Population density
35.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Storm Lake
Seat of county government.
Established
1851
174 years ago
Largest city
Storm Lake city
Population 11,590.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Buena Vista County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Buena Vista County, Iowa from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 797 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Buena Vista County ranks

Position among the 99 counties of Iowa, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn IowaNationally
Population20,44931st of 991,805th of 3,144
Land area574.9 sq mi39th of 991,731st of 3,144
Population density35.6 per sq mi33rd of 991,783rd of 3,144
Median household income$71,71944th of 991,067th of 3,143

Full data for Buena Vista County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population20,449Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202020,800Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?20,820Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area574.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area5.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area580.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?35.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$71,719American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$159,500American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age35.6American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households7,546American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units8,293American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+111
276 births, 165 deaths
Net migration
-312
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 8 areas bordering Buena Vista County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Sac CountyIowa24 mi9,525
Pocahontas CountyIowa24 mi6,819
Clay CountyIowa24 mi16,202
Cherokee CountyIowa24 mi11,369
Calhoun CountyIowaa single point9,562
Ida CountyIowaa single point6,777
O'Brien CountyIowaa single point14,220
Palo Alto CountyIowaa single point8,899

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 99 counties of Iowa

Open the interactive Iowa county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.