Des Moines County
Sign in to savecounty in Iowa, United States
Key facts
- Country
- United States
- State
- Iowa
- Founded
- October 1, 1834
- Named after
- Des Moines River
- Seat
- Burlington
- Largest city
- Burlington
- Total
- 429.775 sq mi (1,113.11 km )
- Land
- 416.129 sq mi (1,077.77 km )
- Water
- 13.646 sq mi (35.34 km ) 3.18%
- Estimate 2025
- 38,077
- Density
- 93.50/sq mi (36.10/km )
- Time zone
- UTC−6 ( Central )
- Summer dst
- UTC−5 ( CDT )
- Congressional district
- 1st
- Website
- desmoinescounty.iowa.gov
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
Des Moines County is located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,910, and was estimated to be 38,077 in 2025. The county seat and largest city is Burlington. It is one of Iowa's two original counties along with Dubuque County; both were organized by the Michigan Territorial legislature in 1834. Des Moines County is part of the Burlington micropolitan statistical area.
Des Moines County sits on Iowa's eastern border alongside the Mississippi River. The city of Des Moines is in Polk County in central Iowa. Both places derive their name from the Des Moines River, which flows through the city of Des Moines and originally flowed through the county. When the county was divided early in Iowa's history, the river ended up further west, forming the border between Lee County, Iowa and the state of Missouri.