County Maps US

Wapello County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 20 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19179

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

Download SVGFull Iowa map downloads

Population
35,210
-124 (-0.4%) since 2020
Land area
431.8
square miles. A further 1.0% of the total area is water
Population density
81.5
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Ottumwa
Seat of county government.
Established
1843
182 years ago
Largest city
Ottumwa city
Population 25,319.

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 Wapello 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 Wapello 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 627 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 Wapello 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
Population35,21020th of 991,309th of 3,144
Land area431.8 sq mi86th of 992,348th of 3,144
Population density81.5 per sq mi14th of 991,065th of 3,144
Median household income$64,76679th of 991,652nd of 3,143

Full data for Wapello County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population35,210Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202035,334Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?35,442Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area431.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area4.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area436 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?81.5 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$64,766American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$125,100American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age39.2American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households13,997American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units15,730American 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
+18
475 births, 457 deaths
Net migration
-237
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 7 areas bordering Wapello 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
Davis CountyIowa24 mi9,230
Jefferson CountyIowa18 mi15,291
Monroe CountyIowa18 mi7,406
Keokuk CountyIowa12 mi9,797
Mahaska CountyIowa12 mi21,880
Appanoose CountyIowaa single point12,077
Van Buren CountyIowaa single point7,131

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.