Taylor County, Iowa

Taylor County is a county in Iowa, United States, about 100 miles southwest of Des Moines. It
had a population of 5,896 at the 2020 census, an estimated 5,835 by 2024, and covers 532 square
miles of land (1,380 km2) centred near 40°44′N 94°42′W.

Bedford is the county seat; its postal code is 50833. The county holds 8 cities, one
disincorporated former city now counted as a census-designated place, and 5 unincorporated
communities across 17 townships, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 19173.

Towns & Villages in Taylor County

Taylor County has 14 named places on record: 8 incorporated cities (Bedford is legally a city
under Iowa law, though older references call the smaller ones “towns”), one
census-designated place, and 5 unincorporated communities with no local government of their
own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities
with no formal boundary.

Clearfield straddles a county line of its own — part of the city sits across the
Ringgold County boundary to the east, though its population figure above is countywide for
Clearfield’s Taylor County share. Athelstan is not currently incorporated: it governed
itself as a city until voters dissolved that status in 2004, and the Census Bureau now tracks it
as a census-designated place using Blockton’s ZIP code. Conway, one of Iowa’s smallest
incorporated cities at 17 residents, has no ZIP of its own and is served by Bedford’s 50833.
Hawleyville also has residents living across the county line; only its Taylor County portion is
counted here.

ZIP Codes

• 50833 — Bedford (also serves Conway, which has no ZIP of its own)
• 50851 — Lenox
• 51646 — New Market
• 50840 — Clearfield
• 50848 — Gravity
• 50836 — Blockton (also serves Athelstan, which has no ZIP of its own)
• 50862 — Sharpsburg

Guss, Hawleyville, Ladoga, Platteville and Siam have no post office and no ZIP code of their
own; mail addressed to them is sorted under whichever nearby incorporated city’s carrier
route reaches them.

Geography

Taylor County sits in the rolling loess hills of southwest Iowa, drained mainly by the East
Fork and Middle Fork of the One Hundred and Two River and by the Platte River along the
county’s southwest edge. Of its 535 square miles, 532 are land and 2.8 are water, about 0.5
percent — the county has no large natural lake, and its water surface is almost entirely
river channel. Lake of Three Fires State Park lies a few miles northeast of Bedford on one of the
larger impoundments in the area.

Adams County lies to the north, Ringgold County to the east, Page County to the west, and the
Missouri counties of Worth and Nodaway to the southeast and southwest. A strip along the state
line was once claimed by Missouri during the 1839 boundary dispute known as the Honey War,
before surveys fixed the border along its present line. Adams County, Ringgold County and Page County border Taylor directly within
Iowa, along with Worth County,
Missouri and Nodaway County,
Missouri across the state line.

Demographics

Taylor County had a population of 5,896 at the 2020 census, the fourth-least populous of
Iowa’s 99 counties, and the latest estimate puts it near 5,835 residents by 2024 — a
slow, decades-long decline from a peak of 18,784 in 1900. Bedford and Lenox are the two largest
communities, together holding roughly half the county’s people. Median household income
runs about $67,740, below Iowa’s statewide median of $71,433 (2023 ACS). Population density
works out to roughly 11 people per square mile of land, among the lowest in the state.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 645 people, followed by health
care and social assistance at 466 and retail trade at 290. Bedford Care Center and the Taylor
County health system are among the larger employers around the county seat, and grain and
livestock farming still anchors the rural economy outside the towns. Bedford’s 1893 Taylor
County Courthouse anchors the town square, and Lake of Three Fires State Park draws campers and
anglers from across southwest Iowa. Lenox holds an annual rodeo each summer, one of the
county’s best-attended local events.

History

Iowa’s territorial legislature organized Taylor County in 1847 and named it for Zachary
Taylor, the general who would be elected U.S. president the following year. Bedford, platted soon
after and named for storekeeper Thomas J. Bedford, became the county seat. A strip of what is now
Taylor County was briefly claimed as part of Missouri during the Honey War border dispute of
1839, before an 1849 survey settled the Iowa–Missouri line for good.

Both Lenox and New Market carried sundown-town histories into the 20th century — New
Market kept an ordinance barring Black residents after dark on the books into the 1980s, and
local historians have documented similar exclusion in Lenox. Neither town’s modern
population reflects that era’s policy today, but the record is part of the county’s
documented history.

Getting There

No interstate crosses Taylor County. Iowa Highway 2 runs east-west through Bedford, Iowa
Highway 148 runs north-south through the county, and Iowa Highway 25 serves its eastern edge near
Lenox.

• Omaha, Nebraska — about 103 miles northwest
• Des Moines, Iowa — about 119 miles north
• St. Joseph, Missouri — about 66 miles south
• Creston, Iowa — about 43 miles northeast

Eppley Airfield in Omaha and Kansas City International Airport, both roughly 103 miles away,
are the nearest major commercial airports. Bedford Municipal Airport handles general aviation
locally. Amtrak’s California Zephyr stops at Creston, about 43 miles northeast, the
nearest station to the county.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Taylor County located?
It sits in southwest Iowa on the Missouri state line, about 80 miles northwest of Omaha, bordered
by Adams, Ringgold and Page counties in Iowa and Worth and Nodaway counties in Missouri.

What is the population of Taylor County?
5,896 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 5,835 — Iowa’s fourth-least
populous county.

How big is Taylor County?
535 square miles in total, of which 532 square miles are land and 2.8 square miles are water.

What is the county seat of Taylor County?
Bedford is the county seat, home to the 1893 Taylor County Courthouse.

How many towns are in Taylor County?
Eight incorporated cities — Bedford, Lenox, New Market, Clearfield, Gravity, Blockton,
Sharpsburg and Conway — plus the census-designated place of Athelstan and five
unincorporated communities: Guss, Hawleyville, Ladoga, Platteville and Siam.

What ZIP codes does Taylor County use?
50833 for Bedford and Conway, 50851 for Lenox, 51646 for New Market, 50840 for Clearfield, 50848
for Gravity, 50836 for Blockton and Athelstan, and 50862 for Sharpsburg.

What is Taylor County known for?
Being named for President Zachary Taylor, Lake of Three Fires State Park near Bedford, and a
strip of land briefly claimed by Missouri during the 1839 Honey War border dispute.

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