Pottawattamie County, Iowa

Pottawattamie County population, land area and income

Pottawattamie County had 93,529 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 951.3 square miles of land. It ranks 10th of 99 in Iowa by population and 2nd by land area. That works out to 98.3 people per square mile, near the US average of 96.3, and above the national county median.

The median county-equivalent in Iowa has 15,008 residents, so Pottawattamie County is 6.2 times that size.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $70,768 is above the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Pottawattamie County's population changed since 2020

Pottawattamie County lost 126 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 0.1%. That ranks 45th of 99 in Iowa for growth. The median Iowa county changed by -0.6%, and the state as a whole by +1.6%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Pottawattamie County recorded 4,166 births and 4,798 deaths, a natural change of -632. Net international migration added +882 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to -404. The largest single component was international migration, which added 882 people.

Where Pottawattamie County is

The Census internal point of Pottawattamie County is at 41.340200, -95.544900. It sits in UTM zone 15N. The map shades Iowa's 99 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Pottawattamie County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Pottawattamie County

5 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Pottawattamie County, 70,725 people together, or 76% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Pottawattamie County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Council Bluffs with 62,665.

Counties bordering Pottawattamie County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 8 neighbors for Pottawattamie County, including 3 across a state line. The most populous is Douglas County, NE, with 601,158 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• NE

  Douglas County, NE

  601,158 people

  32 mi W

• NE

  Sarpy County, NE

  204,828 people

  33 mi WSW

• NE

  Washington County, NE

  21,254 people

  38 mi WNW

• Mills County

  14,717 people

  22 mi S

• Harrison County

  14,626 people

  28 mi NNW

• Cass County

  13,024 people

  32 mi E

• Shelby County

  11,821 people

  26 mi NNE

• Montgomery County

  10,063 people

  30 mi SE

Distance to Des Moines and the nearest big city

Des Moines is 102.0 miles E of Pottawattamie County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Omaha, NE (population 489,265), 27.0 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Council Bluffs, IA (population 62,665), 17.5 miles away.

Pottawattamie County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Pottawattamie County is 19155: state code 19 for Iowa plus county code 155. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $70,768.