Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 13 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19033

Within Iowa
Cerro Gordo County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data.

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Population
42,372
-646 (-1.5%) since 2020
Land area
568.3
square miles. A further 1.2% of the total area is water
Population density
74.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Mason City
Seat of county government.
Established
1851
174 years ago
Largest city
Mason City city
Population 26,853.

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 Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo 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 798 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 Cerro Gordo 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
Population42,37213th of 991,145th of 3,144
Land area568.3 sq mi55th of 991,797th of 3,144
Population density74.6 per sq mi15th of 991,134th of 3,144
Median household income$68,18963rd of 991,322nd of 3,143

Full data for Cerro Gordo County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population42,372Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202043,018Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?43,123Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area568.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area6.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area575.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?74.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$68,189American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$166,400American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age44.0American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households19,538American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units22,786American 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
-139
398 births, 537 deaths
Net migration
+164
More people moved in than moved out.

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

The 8 areas bordering Cerro Gordo 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
Franklin CountyIowa24 mi9,868
Hancock CountyIowa24 mi10,528
Worth CountyIowa24 mi7,338
Floyd CountyIowa21 mi14,901
Mitchell CountyIowa2.9 mi10,650
Butler CountyIowaa single point14,049
Winnebago CountyIowaa single point10,251
Wright CountyIowaa single point12,801

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.