Mills County, Iowa

Mills County is a county in Iowa, United States, on the Missouri River bluffs across from Omaha, Nebraska. It had a population of 14,484 at the 2020 census and covers 437 square miles (1,130 km2) of land, centred near 41°02′N 95°37′W.

Glenwood is the county seat, and its postal code is 51534. The county has seven incorporated cities, one census-designated place, and a scatter of small unincorporated communities. Mills County sits in the Central time zone and is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area.

Towns & Villages in Mills County

Mills County’s population is concentrated in Glenwood and Malvern, with five smaller cities and a handful of unincorporated crossroads communities rounding out the county. The table below lists incorporated places, the Mineola CDP, and long-standing unincorporated settlements; Iowa does not use civil townships for this purpose, so no township column is given.

Mineola sits between Glenwood and Pacific Junction and shares Glenwood’s post office. The unincorporated places above are farm crossroads and rail-era hamlets rather than platted towns; several no longer have a functioning business district. One name from older lists, Tabor, has been dropped here — Tabor is a real Iowa town, but it lies in neighboring Fremont County, not Mills County.

ZIP Codes

• 51534 — Glenwood (also serves Mineola, Balfour, Folsom, Mills, White Cloud)
• 51551 — Malvern (also serves Burr Oak, Solomon, Strahan)
• 51533 — Emerson (also serves Clark)
• 51571 — Silver City (also serves Hillsdale)
• 51540 — Hastings (also serves Climax)
• 51541 — Henderson
• 51561 — Pacific Junction (also serves Pacific City)

Every incorporated place in the county has its own post office and five-digit ZIP; the unincorporated communities use whichever of the seven ZIPs above covers their rural route.

Geography

Mills County lies where the Loess Hills meet the Missouri River floodplain in southwest Iowa. The bluffs along the western edge of the county rise sharply from the river bottoms, while the eastern half is rolling farmland drained by the West Nishnabotna River and Keg Creek. Roughly 3.2 square miles (8.3 km2) of the county’s area is water. The Loess Hills give Glenwood and the western townships a distinctly hilly character rare in an Iowa county.

Mills County borders Pottawattamie County to the north, Montgomery County to the east, Fremont County to the south, and Cass County and Sarpy County, both in Nebraska, across the Missouri River to the west.

Demographics

Mills County had 14,484 residents at the 2020 census, giving a density of about 33 people per square mile. Glenwood (5,073) and Malvern (1,046) are the county’s two largest communities; together they hold roughly 42 percent of the county’s population. Median household income data specific to Mills County was not verifiable for this profile; Iowa’s statewide median household income is $71,433, and Mills County’s proximity to the Omaha-Council Bluffs job market has historically kept local incomes close to or above that figure.

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture — row crops and livestock on the loess uplands and river-bottom fields — remains the base of the county’s economy, alongside commuting to jobs in Council Bluffs and Omaha across the river. Glenwood is home to the Glenwood Resource Center, a long-running state institution serving Iowans with intellectual disabilities, and to the Glenwood Community School District. The Mills County Fair, held each summer in Malvern, is the county’s largest annual gathering.

History

Mills County was organized in 1851 and named for Major Frederick Mills of Burlington, Iowa, who was killed at the Battle of Churubusco during the Mexican-American War. Glenwood was platted the same decade and grew as a river-trade and later rail town on the Missouri bottoms. The county has flooded repeatedly where it meets the Missouri River, most notably in 2011 and again in 2019, when levee breaches forced evacuations in Pacific Junction and the surrounding bottomland communities.

Getting There

Interstate 29 runs the length of the county along the Missouri River bottoms, with U.S. Routes 34 and 275 crossing east–west and U.S. Route 59 running north–south through the uplands.

• Omaha, Nebraska — 15 miles west
• Council Bluffs, Iowa — 12 miles northwest
• Shenandoah, Iowa — 25 miles southeast
• Red Oak, Iowa — 22 miles east

The nearest commercial airport is Eppley Airfield in Omaha, about 20 miles from Glenwood.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Mills County, Iowa?
It is in southwest Iowa, on the Missouri River across from Omaha and Council Bluffs, Nebraska.

What is the population of Mills County?
14,484 people at the 2020 census.

How big is Mills County?
437 square miles (1,130 km2) of land, plus 3.2 square miles (8.3 km2) of water.

What is the county seat of Mills County?
Glenwood is the county seat.

How many towns are in Mills County?
Seven incorporated cities, one census-designated place (Mineola), and about a dozen smaller unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Mills County?
51534 (Glenwood), 51551 (Malvern), 51533 (Emerson), 51571 (Silver City), 51540 (Hastings), 51541 (Henderson), and 51561 (Pacific Junction).

Is Mills County part of the Omaha metro area?
Yes — it is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Combined Statistical Area, and many residents commute across the river for work.

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