County Maps US

Buchanan County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 30 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19019

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

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Population
20,883
+275 (+1.3%) since 2020
Land area
571.1
square miles. A further 0.4% of the total area is water
Population density
36.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Independence
Seat of county government.
Established
1837
188 years ago
Largest city
Independence city
Population 6,312.

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 Buchanan 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 Buchanan 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 779 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 Buchanan 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
Population20,88330th of 991,780th of 3,144
Land area571.1 sq mi44th of 991,762nd of 3,144
Population density36.6 per sq mi30th of 991,758th of 3,144
Median household income$78,23617th of 99660th of 3,143

Full data for Buchanan County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population20,883Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202020,608Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?20,562Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area571.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area2.0 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area573.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?36.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$78,236American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$176,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age40.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households8,252American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units8,945American 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
+42
285 births, 243 deaths
Net migration
+132
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 7 areas bordering Buchanan 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
Black Hawk CountyIowa25 mi131,532
Delaware CountyIowa25 mi17,674
Fayette CountyIowa24 mi19,047
Linn CountyIowa12 mi232,028
Benton CountyIowa12 mi26,004
Bremer CountyIowaa single point25,296
Clayton CountyIowaa single point16,845

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.