County Maps US

Cherokee County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 66 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19035

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

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Population
11,369
-279 (-2.4%) since 2020
Land area
576.9
square miles. A further 0.0% of the total area is water
Population density
19.7
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Cherokee
Seat of county government.
Established
1851
174 years ago
Largest city
Cherokee city
Population 5,122.

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 Cherokee 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 Cherokee 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 796 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 Cherokee 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
Population11,36966th of 992,328th of 3,144
Land area576.9 sq mi35th of 991,715th of 3,144
Population density19.7 per sq mi74th of 992,257th of 3,144
Median household income$71,26949th of 991,112th of 3,143

Full data for Cherokee County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population11,369Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202011,648Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?11,650Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area576.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area0.16 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area577.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?19.7 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$71,269American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$158,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age44.0American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households5,045American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units5,557American 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
-93
127 births, 220 deaths
Net migration
-59
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 Cherokee 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
Plymouth CountyIowa24 mi25,697
Buena Vista CountyIowa24 mi20,449
O'Brien CountyIowa24 mi14,220
Ida CountyIowa18 mi6,777
Woodbury CountyIowa6.0 mi106,649
Clay CountyIowaa single point16,202
Sac CountyIowaa single point9,525
Sioux CountyIowaa single point36,774

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.