10 of the lowest cities and towns in Iowa by elevation
These towns aren't ranked against each other. A published elevation is a single point chosen to represent a town, not a reading of the whole town, and different sources choose different points. Each figure here is one such reading, so we do not say which of these towns sits lowest. They're listed alphabetically below.
Lowest towns in Iowa
10 of 10| Town | County | Elevation (approx., ft) |
|---|---|---|
| Bettendorf | Scott County | 568 ft |
| Bonaparte | Van Buren County | 556 ft |
| Buffalo | Scott County | 561 ft |
| Farmington | Van Buren County | 552 ft |
| Fort Madison | Lee County | 526 ft |
| Fruitland | Muscatine County | 547 ft |
| Keokuk | Lee County | 569 ft |
| Keosauqua | Van Buren County | 581 ft |
| Montrose † | Lee County | 528 ft |
| Oakville | Louisa County | 541 ft |
- †Elevation is reported at a single representative point. A place does not have one single elevation, so other published figures for Montrose may differ.
This list is one slice of the full List. The City List with Coordinates carries every U.S. city, town, and township — each with its elevation, coordinates, and county in one CSV.
- The City List with Coordinates page has a free 100-row sample — download it to see the columns first.
- Need one town's elevation and coordinates? The city geocoder tool returns a single place, free.
- Get the City List with Coordinates ($29) for the complete file.
- Working from ZIP codes instead? The ZIP code lookup tool covers those.
Lowest towns in other states
Same franchise, state by state.
Methodology & sources
About this list. Incorporated cities and towns are municipalities recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau; census-designated places, townships, and unincorporated communities are not included. Elevation figures come from the U.S. Geological Survey's 3D Elevation Program. Each elevation is approximate. A town does not have one single elevation — different sources choose different points to represent it, so the figure depends on which point is measured, and ours can differ from the figure other sources publish. The elevation column in our downloadable City lists is sampled separately, and often differs from the figure shown here. Where a candidate town's figures don't hold together well enough to stand behind, it's left out rather than the list padded — so some states run to fewer than ten.