How this list was compiled: Items made on 2026-09-26. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf
The drawing: Drawn for this site from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_county_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_county_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_state_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_state_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19. Albers equal-area conic projection, central meridian 93.6°W, standard parallels 40.9°N and 43°N. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf
How it works
This blank map of Iowa shows all 99 counties of Iowa, from Adair to Wright, with Des Moines, the capital, in Polk County; with Borders off it prints the plain outline.
Read the full guide
Blank, numbered or named
Blank prints the 99 shapes with nothing written; Numbered puts 1 on Adair and 99 on Wright, in alphabetical order; Named prints every name, and Print the answer key gives the list.
Iowa outline map with every county
Most of Iowa’s 99 counties are near-square blocks of about the same size; Kossuth, in the north, is the largest. Its neighbors, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin, are drawn around it without numbers.
The grid of square counties makes Iowa a good sheet for practising numbered rows: work west to east.
Questions and answers
How many counties does Iowa have?
Ninety-nine in the Census Bureau count, from Adair County to Wright County in alphabetical order; with so many, the numbered sheet is busy.
What county is Des Moines in?
Des Moines stands in Polk County, which is number 77 on the numbered sheet. Have students find it first and write Des Moines beside it.
Why are Iowa counties so square?
The land was surveyed in the federal grid of townships and ranges before most counties were drawn, so county lines follow straight survey lines.
Which county of Iowa has the most people?
Polk County, around Des Moines, has more people than any other county in Iowa, and it holds the capital too.