County Maps US

Howard County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 78 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19089

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

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Population
9,415
-79 (-0.8%) since 2020
Land area
473.2
square miles. A further 0.1% of the total area is water
Population density
19.9
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Cresco
Seat of county government.
Established
1851
174 years ago
Largest city
Cresco city
Population 3,925.

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 Howard 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 Howard 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 682 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 Howard 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
Population9,41578th of 992,453rd of 3,144
Land area473.2 sq mi75th of 992,180th of 3,144
Population density19.9 per sq mi72nd of 992,248th of 3,144
Median household income$67,44668th of 991,389th of 3,143

Full data for Howard County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population9,415Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20209,494Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?9,470Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area473.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area0.36 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area473.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?19.9 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$67,446American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$147,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age39.2American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households3,773American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units4,320American 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
+16
121 births, 105 deaths
Net migration
-38
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 6 areas bordering Howard 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
Chickasaw CountyIowa24 mi11,663
Winneshiek CountyIowa20 mi19,733
Mitchell CountyIowa20 mi10,650
Fillmore CountyMinnesota19 mi21,540
Mower CountyMinnesota5.2 mi40,971
Floyd CountyIowaa single point14,901

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.