Iowa vs Wisconsin

The two states, county by county

Both maps share one density scale, so the same shade means the same number of people per square mile on either side of the border. Darker counties are denser. Select a county to open its page.

Side by side

Population and density

Wisconsin has 5,960,975 residents, 84% more than Iowa's 3,241,488. Iowa ranks 32nd and Wisconsin 20th of the 50 states and DC. Wisconsin is the more crowded, with 110.0 people per square mile against 58.0, 90% more.

Land area

Iowa has 55,854 square miles of land, about the same as Wisconsin's 54,168. The largest county-equivalent in Iowa is Kossuth County at 973 square miles; in Wisconsin it is Marathon County at 1,545.

Counties

Iowa is divided into 99 county-equivalents and Wisconsin into 72, so an average Iowa county covers 564 square miles against 752. The typical county in Iowa has 15,008 residents, against 41,821 in Wisconsin. The most populous are Polk County (516,185) and Milwaukee County (924,740).

10 county names appear on both sides of the border: Adams, Crawford, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Monroe, Polk, Taylor, Washington, Winnebago. Use the FIPS code, not the name, when joining data across the two states.

Household income

The typical county household income is about the same in both: $68,654 in Iowa and $70,174 in Wisconsin. The highest county incomes are Dallas County ($102,189) in Iowa and St. Croix County ($103,731) in Wisconsin, from SAIPE 2023.

Capitals and daylight

Des Moines and Madison are 239 miles apart in a straight line; from Des Moines the initial bearing is 63°, ENE. On June 21, 2026, Des Moines gets 15 h 12 min of daylight and Madison 15 h 22 min; on December 21 the figures are 9 h 10 min and 9 h 00 min. Month by month tables are on the Des Moines and Madison daylight pages.

Where they sit

Both are in the Midwest region, but Iowa is in the West North Central division and Wisconsin in the East North Central division. By county internal points, Iowa spans 2 UTM zones and Wisconsin 2.