Boone County, Iowa

Boone County is a county in Iowa, United States, about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines. It had a
population of 26,715 at the 2020 census, an estimated 26,799 by 2025, and covers 574 square miles
(1,490 km2) centred near 42°02′N 93°56′W.

Boone is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 50036. The
county holds 10 incorporated cities and 6 unincorporated communities across 17 townships, and it
runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 19015.

Towns & Villages in Boone County

Boone County has 16 named places on record: 10 incorporated cities and 6 unincorporated
communities with no local government of their own. Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural
communities with no formal boundary.

Sheldahl sits at the tripoint of Boone, Polk and Story counties, so its 297 residents above are
countywide, not Boone-only. Woodward, sometimes listed on older county rosters, is entirely
within Dallas County and is not a Boone County place — it was dropped from this list.

Townships

Iowa’s civil townships have no independent government today; they exist mainly as
Census-tracked subdivisions and voting precincts, but the names above still mark the settlements
and rural areas people use for local directions.

ZIP Codes

• 50036 — Boone (also covers Fraser)
• 50037 — Boone, second ZIP for the city
• 50156 — Madrid
• 50212 — Ogden
• 50040 — Boxholm
• 50223 — Pilot Mound
• 50243 — Sheldahl
• 50152 — Luther
• 50031 — Beaver
• 50220 — Berkley

Moingona, Angus, Centerville, Coal Valley, Jordan and Logansport have no ZIP code of their own;
mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated city’s code.

Geography

Boone County lies in central Iowa on the Des Moines River, which cuts a wooded valley across
the county’s eastern half. Of the county’s 574 square miles, 572 are land and 2.1 are
water, about 0.4 percent. The river valley near Boone and Moingona is deep enough that the
Chicago and North Western Railway built the Kate Shelley High Bridge there, one of the tallest
double-track railroad bridges in the country when it opened in 1901. Beaver Creek and Squaw Creek
are the county’s other principal streams, both feeding the Des Moines River.

Webster and Hamilton counties border Boone to the north, Story County to the east, Polk County
to the southeast, Dallas County to the south, and Greene County to the west. Webster County, Hamilton County, Story County, Polk County and Greene County all border Boone
directly; Dallas County does too, though it has no page on this site yet.

Demographics

Boone County had a population of 26,715 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 26,799 residents. Boone and Madrid are by far the two largest communities, with Boone
alone holding nearly half the county’s population. Iowa’s statewide median household
income was $71,433 in the 2023 ACS. Population density works out to about 47 people per square
mile of land, low even by rural Iowa standards outside the Boone-Ogden corridor along U.S. Route
30.

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture and manufacturing anchor the county’s economy, with corn and soybean farms
covering most of the townships outside the Boone-Ogden corridor. Fareway, the Midwest grocery
chain, was founded in Boone and still keeps corporate offices there; Casey’s General Store
opened its first location in Boone in 1968. Des Moines Area Community College runs a campus in
Boone, and the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad operates a heritage steam and diesel excursion
line out of the old Chicago and North Western depot, crossing the Kate Shelley High Bridge on
selected runs. The county’s biggest annual event is Pufferbilly Days, a railroad-themed
festival held in Boone each September that draws more than 30,000 visitors.

History

The Iowa Territorial Legislature organised Boone County on 13 January 1846, naming it for
Captain Nathan Boone, a son of frontier explorer Daniel Boone. The original county seat was
Boonesboro, platted in 1851; when the Chicago and North Western Railway bypassed it for a new
townsite two miles east, that rival town — also confusingly named Boone — grew faster,
and it annexed Boonesboro outright in 1887 to settle the rivalry and keep the county seat.

Coal mining shaped the county through the late 1800s and early 1900s, with mines operating
around Coal Valley, Angus and Fraser. On 6 July 1881, 15-year-old Kate Shelley crawled across a
collapsing railroad bridge over Honey Creek near Moingona in a night storm to warn an oncoming
passenger train of a washed-out span, saving dozens of lives; the high bridge later built nearby
carries her name.

Getting There

U.S. Route 30 crosses the county east-west through Boone and Ogden; U.S. Route 169 runs
north-south through the west-central townships. No interstate highway crosses Boone County.

• Des Moines — about 40 miles southeast
• Ames — about 20 miles east
• Fort Dodge — about 30 miles north
• Perry — about 15 miles south

Des Moines International Airport, roughly 45 miles southeast of Boone, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Amtrak does not serve Boone County; the nearest station is in Osceola, over 60
miles south.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Boone County located?
It sits in central Iowa along the Des Moines River, about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines,
bordered by Webster, Hamilton, Story, Polk, Dallas and Greene counties.

What is the population of Boone County?
26,715 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 26,799.

How big is Boone County?
574 square miles (1,490 km2), of which 572 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Boone County?
Boone is the county seat, formed in 1887 when it annexed the earlier seat, Boonesboro.

How many towns and cities are in Boone County?
Ten incorporated cities — Boone, Madrid, Ogden, Boxholm, Pilot Mound, Sheldahl, Luther,
Fraser, Beaver and Berkley — plus six unincorporated communities: Moingona, Angus,
Centerville, Coal Valley, Jordan and Logansport.

What ZIP codes does Boone County use?
50036 and 50037 for Boone; 50156 for Madrid; 50212 for Ogden; 50040 for Boxholm; 50223 for Pilot
Mound; 50243 for Sheldahl; 50152 for Luther; 50031 for Beaver; and 50220 for Berkley.

What is Boone County known for?
Kate Shelley’s 1881 bridge rescue near Moingona, the Kate Shelley High Bridge, and the Boone
& Scenic Valley Railroad’s steam excursions.

More counties in this state: Towns and
villages in Iowa.