RANKING · 1990 CENSUS · 99 SHOWN OF 99

Most residents in poverty, Iowa counties · 1990

Iowa counties with the most residents living below the poverty line, as of the 1990 American Community Survey. Ranked by number of people, not the poverty rate. This list covers the 99 counties in Iowa that qualify, ranked against each other statewide. The median across all 99 is 1,835.

IowaAll states All rankings

SAME RANKING BYCities States Metros

RELATEDHighest median household income Lowest median household income Highest per-capita income Lowest poverty rate Highest poverty rate Most six-figure households

YEAR1990 2000 2010 2020 2024

RANKPLACESTATEPOPRESIDENTS IN POVERTYVS –

01Polk County, IAIA516,54630,082–

02Black Hawk County, IAIA131,53218,942–

03Scott County, IAIA175,25918,272–

04Johnson County, IAIA160,04416,398–

05Linn County, IAIA232,02814,574–

06Woodbury County, IAIA106,64913,179–

07Story County, IAIA101,29112,288–

08Dubuque County, IAIA99,3818,872–

09Pottawattamie County, IAIA92,9968,666–

10Clinton County, IAIA46,0025,513–

11Wapello County, IAIA35,2105,446–

12Lee County, IAIA32,3064,976–

13Des Moines County, IAIA38,0774,830–

14Webster County, IAIA36,8384,771–

15Cerro Gordo County, IAIA42,3724,170–

16Muscatine County, IAIA41,8534,031–

17Buchanan County, IAIA20,8833,484–

18Marshall County, IAIA39,8903,318–

19Fayette County, IAIA19,0473,110–

20Marion County, IAIA34,1923,004–

21Jackson County, IAIA19,2882,856–

22Mahaska County, IAIA21,8802,808–

23Appanoose County, IAIA12,0772,801–

24Winneshiek County, IAIA19,7332,755–

25Clayton County, IAIA16,8452,746–

26Crawford County, IAIA16,2372,661–

27Benton County, IAIA26,0042,555–

28Jasper County, IAIA38,1532,424–

29Sioux County, IAIA36,7742,413–

30Page County, IAIA14,8562,326–

31Delaware County, IAIA17,6742,306–

32Floyd County, IAIA14,9012,270–

33Carroll County, IAIA20,3032,263–

34Warren County, IAIA57,3312,263–

35Dallas County, IAIA118,4572,261–

36Jefferson County, IAIA15,2912,260–

37Jones County, IAIA21,2532,231–

38Boone County, IAIA26,7992,221–

39Plymouth County, IAIA25,6972,113–

40Bremer County, IAIA25,2962,096–

41Hardin County, IAIA16,4552,063–

42Kossuth County, IAIA14,3222,040–

43Harrison County, IAIA14,6232,026–

44Poweshiek County, IAIA18,3681,979–

45Union County, IAIA11,8291,970–

46Henry County, IAIA19,3491,936–

47O'Brien County, IAIA14,2201,870–

48Washington County, IAIA22,6671,855–

49Tama County, IAIA16,7961,839–

50Allamakee County, IAIA14,2381,835–

51Cedar County, IAIA18,3591,778–

52Decatur County, IAIA7,6551,752–

53Clay County, IAIA16,2021,750–

54Buena Vista County, IAIA20,4491,745–

55Cass County, IAIA12,9601,743–

56Butler County, IAIA14,0491,682–

57Palo Alto County, IAIA8,8991,632–

58Lyon County, IAIA12,3541,591–

59Cherokee County, IAIA11,3691,580–

60Keokuk County, IAIA9,7971,520–

61Emmet County, IAIA9,1071,509–

62Monona County, IAIA8,5391,481–

63Davis County, IAIA9,2301,478–

64Sac County, IAIA9,5251,452–

65Chickasaw County, IAIA11,6631,423–

66Winnebago County, IAIA10,2511,419–

67Madison County, IAIA17,2701,389–

68Wright County, IAIA12,8011,386–

69Calhoun County, IAIA9,5621,371–

70Dickinson County, IAIA18,0771,366–

71Howard County, IAIA9,4151,358–

72Louisa County, IAIA10,4161,352–

73Wayne County, IAIA6,7381,350–

74Mills County, IAIA14,7931,346–

75Hamilton County, IAIA14,9441,320–

76Taylor County, IAIA5,8351,303–

77Van Buren County, IAIA7,1311,286–

78Franklin County, IAIA9,8681,283–

79Monroe County, IAIA7,4061,267–

80Shelby County, IAIA11,6891,240–

81Greene County, IAIA8,6581,228–

82Guthrie County, IAIA10,7821,228–

83Montgomery County, IAIA10,0021,223–

84Iowa County, IAIA16,5041,198–

85Lucas County, IAIA8,8471,185–

86Clarke County, IAIA9,5741,138–

87Adair County, IAIA7,4031,128–

88Mitchell County, IAIA10,6501,127–

89Hancock County, IAIA10,5281,120–

90Fremont County, IAIA6,5221,000–

91Grundy County, IAIA12,361997–

92Pocahontas County, IAIA6,819994–

93Ida County, IAIA6,777970–

94Humboldt County, IAIA9,409948–

95Ringgold County, IAIA4,642931–

96Audubon County, IAIA5,509887–

97Adams County, IAIA3,617815–

98Worth County, IAIA7,338792–

99Osceola County, IAIA5,980712–

SHOWING 1–99 OF 99

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UPDATED 2026-09-11 · DATA: US CENSUS BUREAU DECENNIAL CENSUS