County Maps US

Shelby County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 64 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19165

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

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Population
11,689
-29 (-0.2%) since 2020
Land area
590.8
square miles. A further 0.1% of the total area is water
Population density
19.8
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Harlan
Seat of county government.
Established
1851
174 years ago
Largest city
Harlan city
Population 4,859.

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 Shelby 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 Shelby 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 750 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 Shelby 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
Population11,68964th of 992,305th of 3,144
Land area590.8 sq mi22nd of 991,656th of 3,144
Population density19.8 per sq mi73rd of 992,255th of 3,144
Median household income$72,73840th of 99996th of 3,143

Full data for Shelby County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population11,689Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202011,718Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?11,742Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area590.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area0.57 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area591.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?19.8 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$72,738American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$164,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age44.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households4,882American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units5,441American 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
-48
113 births, 161 deaths
Net migration
-39
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 Shelby 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
Harrison CountyIowa28 mi14,623
Audubon CountyIowa27 mi5,509
Crawford CountyIowa24 mi16,237
Pottawattamie CountyIowa18 mi92,996
Cass CountyIowa5.9 mi12,960
Carroll CountyIowaa single point20,303

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.