Pottawattamie County is a county in Iowa, United States, on the Missouri River across from Omaha, Nebraska, in the state’s western Loess Hills. It had a population of 93,667 at the 2020 census and covers 951 square miles (2,464 km2) centred near 41°20′25″N 95°32′42″W.
Council Bluffs is the county seat and its postal code is 51503. The county has 12 incorporated cities and towns plus several unincorporated communities, no organized civil townships used in this profile, and sits in the Central time zone. Its FIPS code is 78.
Towns & Villages in Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie County has 12 incorporated cities and towns and several small unincorporated communities. Carter Lake, Council Bluffs’s neighbor across the Missouri River, is technically split by the river’s old channel and sits partly on the Nebraska side of the water but remains inside Iowa and Pottawattamie County. Cities and towns marked Unincorp. below are named places without their own municipal government.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Council Bluffs | City · seat | 62,799 | 51501 / 51503 |
| Carter Lake | City | 3,791 | 51510 |
| Avoca | City | 1,683 | 51521 |
| Oakland | City | 1,524 | 51560 |
| Treynor | City | 1,032 | 51575 |
| Carson | City | — | 51525 |
| Underwood | City | — | 51576 |
| Walnut | City | — | 51577 |
| Neola | City | — | 51559 |
| Minden | City | — | 51553 |
| Macedonia | City | — | 51549 |
| McClelland | City | — | 51548 |
| Shelby | City | — | — |
| Crescent | Unincorp. | — | 51526 |
| Hancock | Unincorp. | — | 51536 |
| Honey Creek | Unincorp. | — | 51542 |
ZIP Codes
- 51501 — Council Bluffs (PO Box)
- 51503 — Council Bluffs
- 51510 — Carter Lake
- 51521 — Avoca
- 51525 — Carson
- 51526 — Crescent
- 51536 — Hancock
- 51542 — Honey Creek
- 51548 — McClelland
- 51549 — Macedonia
- 51553 — Minden
- 51559 — Neola
- 51560 — Oakland
- 51575 — Treynor
- 51576 — Underwood
- 51577 — Walnut
Shelby’s ZIP code could not be confirmed from current sources and is not published here.
Geography
The county sits in Iowa’s Loess Hills, a narrow band of steep, wind-deposited bluffs along the Missouri River bottomland. The Missouri forms most of the county’s western border, and Mosquito Creek and the West Nishnabotna River drain the county’s interior toward it. Terrain rises from flat river bottomland in the west to rolling upland prairie in the east.
Pottawattamie County borders Harrison County to the north, Shelby County to the northeast, Cass County to the east, Montgomery County to the southeast, Mills County to the south, and across the Missouri River, Sarpy, Douglas, and Washington counties in Nebraska to the west.
Demographics
Pottawattamie County had a population of 93,667 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth most populous county in Iowa. Council Bluffs, the county seat, accounts for about two-thirds of that total with 62,799 residents; Carter Lake is the county’s second-largest city at 3,791. Density works out to roughly 98 people per square mile. Median household income in the county runs below the Iowa median of $71,433, reflecting a mostly rural tax base outside the Council Bluffs metro core.
Economy & Local Life
Council Bluffs anchors the county’s economy as the Iowa half of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metro area, with rail, casino gaming (the city hosts several riverboat and land casinos), warehousing, and retail driving employment. Outside Council Bluffs, the county is heavily agricultural — corn and soybeans dominate the upland farmland, and Pottawattamie routinely ranks among Iowa’s top corn-producing counties.
History
Pottawattamie County was organized in 1848 and formally established in 1851, taking its name from the Potawatomi people who were relocated to the area in the 1830s–40s before further removal west. Council Bluffs grew from the Mormon way-station of Kanesville, a major staging point on the Mormon Trail in the late 1840s before wagon trains crossed the Missouri River westward. The county later became a rail and river-crossing hub tied to the growth of Omaha directly across the water.
Getting There
Interstates 29, 80, 480, and 680 all pass through the county, along with US Routes 6, 59, and 275, making Council Bluffs one of the busier interstate junctions in the Midwest.
- Omaha, Nebraska — 5 miles west
- Des Moines — 130 miles east
- Avoca — 25 miles northeast
- Oakland — 20 miles east
Eppley Airfield in Omaha, just across the river, is the nearest major commercial airport.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Pottawattamie County, Iowa?
It sits in southwest Iowa along the Missouri River, directly across from Omaha, Nebraska.
What is the population of Pottawattamie County?
93,667 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Pottawattamie County?
951 square miles (2,464 km2) of land and water.
What is the county seat of Pottawattamie County?
Council Bluffs is the county seat.
How many towns are in Pottawattamie County?
12 incorporated cities and towns, plus several unincorporated communities like Crescent, Hancock, and Honey Creek.
What ZIP codes are in Pottawattamie County?
Sixteen ZIP codes, from 51501 (Council Bluffs) to 51577 (Walnut) — see the list above.
Why is it called Pottawattamie County?
It takes its name from the Potawatomi people who lived in the area before removal further west in the 1840s.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Iowa.