Pocahontas County, Iowa

Pocahontas County is a county in Iowa, United States, roughly 100 miles northwest of Des Moines in the Des Moines Lobe farm belt. It had a population of 7,078 at the 2020 census and covers 578.7 square miles (1,498.7 km2), of which 577.2 square miles (1,495.1 km2) are land, centred near 42°44′03″N 94°40′42″W.

Pocahontas is the county seat and its postal code is 50574. The county has nine incorporated cities, one unincorporated community (Ware), and 17 civil townships, and sits in the Central time zone.

Towns & Villages in Pocahontas County

Pocahontas County has nine incorporated cities — Pocahontas itself carries the county seat, and eight smaller cities are spread across the county’s farmland. Under Iowa law every incorporated municipality is legally a “city” regardless of size, so the smallest entries below (Plover, population 50) hold the same legal status as the county seat. Ware is the county’s one recognized unincorporated community; two historic settlements, Lizard and Rubens, no longer exist as populated places.

*Gilmore City straddles the Pocahontas–Humboldt county line; its 2020 population was 217 on the Pocahontas County side of a 487-resident total. Township assignments for individual cities are not confirmed against a current plat and are left blank here rather than guessed.

Townships

Pocahontas County is divided into 17 civil townships: Bellville, Cedar, Center, Colfax, Cummins, Des Moines, Dover, Garfield, Grant, Lake, Lincoln, Lizard, Marshall, Powhatan, Roosevelt, Sherman and Swan Lake. Current township-level population figures are not published in a form this page can verify, so they are omitted rather than estimated.

ZIP Codes

• 50574 — Pocahontas
• 50554 — Laurens
• 50540 — Fonda
• 50581 — Rolfe
• 50541 — Gilmore City
• 50546 — Havelock
• 50571 — Palmer
• 50573 — Plover (PO Box only)
• 50593 — Varina (PO Box only)

Ware has no ZIP code of its own; mail there is handled through one of the neighboring post offices.

Geography

Pocahontas County sits on the Des Moines Lobe, a glaciated stretch of north-central Iowa left flat and poorly drained by the Wisconsinan ice sheet — most of its natural wetlands were tiled and ditched for row-crop farming in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The county has no major river running through its center; small drainage ditches and the headwaters of Cedar Creek and the Des Moines River’s tributaries cross its farmland. Of the county’s 578.7 square miles, 1.4 square miles are water.

Pocahontas County borders Palo Alto County to the north, Humboldt County to the east, Webster County to the southeast, Calhoun County to the south, and Buena Vista County to the west.

Demographics

The 2020 census counted 7,078 residents, making Pocahontas the ninth-least populous of Iowa’s 99 counties. Pocahontas city (1,867) and Laurens (1,264) are the two largest communities, together holding about 44% of the county’s population. Population density works out to roughly 12.3 people per square mile of land. Iowa’s statewide 2023 median household income was $71,433; Pocahontas County’s smaller, older, and more agricultural population runs below that figure, consistent with most rural Des Moines Lobe counties.

Economy & Local Life

Corn and soybean farming, along with hog and cattle operations, anchor the county’s economy, supported by grain elevators and farm-supply businesses in each of its small cities. Pocahontas and Laurens serve as the county’s retail and service centers, with schools, a hospital, and local government offices concentrated in the county seat. As in most of this part of Iowa, agribusiness and related trucking and equipment-repair work make up most non-farm employment.

History

Pocahontas County was created by the Iowa legislature on January 15, 1851, and formally organized on May 11, 1859. It takes its name from Pocahontas, the Native American woman associated with the early Jamestown colony in Virginia; a large statue of her stands in the city of Pocahontas, the county seat. Like much of the Des Moines Lobe, the county’s early economy depended on draining its natural wetlands for farmland, a process that reshaped its landscape through the late nineteenth century. Two small early settlements, Lizard and Rubens, did not survive as populated places and are counted among Iowa’s ghost towns.

Getting There

Iowa Highway 4 runs north–south through the county and through the city of Pocahontas, linking it to Rolfe to the north and Fonda to the south. Pocahontas Municipal Airport, about a mile northeast of the county seat, handles general aviation; the nearest regional commercial service is Fort Dodge Regional Airport, and Des Moines International Airport is the nearest major hub.

• Fort Dodge — about 30 miles southeast
• Storm Lake — about 30 miles west
• Spencer — about 35 miles northwest
• Des Moines — about 110 miles south

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Pocahontas County?
It is in north-central Iowa, about 100 miles northwest of Des Moines.

What is the population of Pocahontas County?
7,078 at the 2020 census.

How big is Pocahontas County?
578.7 square miles (1,498.7 km2), of which 577.2 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Pocahontas County?
Pocahontas is the county seat.

How many towns are in Pocahontas County?
Nine incorporated cities plus the unincorporated community of Ware.

What ZIP codes are in Pocahontas County?
50574 (Pocahontas), 50554 (Laurens), 50540 (Fonda), 50581 (Rolfe), 50541 (Gilmore City), 50546 (Havelock), 50571 (Palmer), 50573 (Plover) and 50593 (Varina).

Why is it named Pocahontas County?
It is named for Pocahontas, the Native American woman known from early colonial Jamestown, Virginia; the county seat displays a large statue of her.

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