County Maps US

Story County, Iowa

A county in Iowa, ranked 8 of 99 by population.

CountyFIPS 19169

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

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Population
101,291
+2,633 (+2.7%) since 2020
Land area
572.5
square miles. A further 0.2% of the total area is water
Population density
177
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Nevada
Seat of county government.
Established
1846
179 years ago
Largest city
Ames city
Population 68,220.

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 Story 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 Story 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 799 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 Story 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
Population101,2918th of 99619th of 3,144
Land area572.5 sq mi42nd of 991,748th of 3,144
Population density177 per sq mi7th of 99609th of 3,144
Median household income$69,68556th of 991,222nd of 3,143

Full data for Story County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population101,291Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202098,658Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?98,541Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area572.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area573.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?177 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$69,685American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$258,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age26.9American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households38,904American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units41,887American 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
+169
805 births, 636 deaths
Net migration
-298
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 6 areas bordering Story 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
Marshall CountyIowa24 mi39,890
Boone CountyIowa24 mi26,799
Polk CountyIowa18 mi516,546
Hamilton CountyIowa12 mi14,944
Hardin CountyIowa12 mi16,455
Jasper CountyIowa6.0 mi38,153

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.