County Maps US

Dickinson County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 39 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19059

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

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Population
18,077
+302 (+1.7%) since 2020
Land area
380.5
square miles. A further 5.8% of the total area is water
Population density
47.5
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Spirit Lake
Seat of county government.
Established
1857
168 years ago
Largest city
Spirit Lake city
Population 5,525.

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 Dickinson 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 Dickinson 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 800 by 596 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 Dickinson 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
Population18,07739th of 991,934th of 3,144
Land area380.5 sq mi99th of 992,601st of 3,144
Population density47.5 per sq mi24th of 991,526th of 3,144
Median household income$75,43227th of 99817th of 3,143

Full data for Dickinson County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population18,077Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202017,775Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?17,710Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area380.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area23.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area404 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?47.5 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$75,432American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$270,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age48.7American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households8,845American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units14,206American 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
-104
149 births, 253 deaths
Net migration
+113
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 6 areas bordering Dickinson 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
Clay CountyIowa24 mi16,202
Jackson CountyMinnesota24 mi9,857
Emmet CountyIowa17 mi9,107
Osceola CountyIowa17 mi5,980
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.