The 10 lowest towns in Iowa by elevation
Fort Madison is Iowa's lowest incorporated town, at about 522 feet above sea level. All ten of Iowa's lowest towns sit below 650 feet.
These are the ten lowest incorporated towns in Iowa, ranked by elevation above sea level. The elevations are approximate — measured inside each town's limits — and are compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Lowest towns in Iowa
10 of 10| # | Town | County | Elevation (approx., ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Madison | Lee County | 522 ft |
| 2 | Oakville | Louisa County | 542 ft |
| 3 | Montrose † | Lee County | 546 ft |
| 4 | Fruitland | Muscatine County | 548 ft |
| 5 | Farmington | Van Buren County | 563 ft |
| 6 | Riverdale | Scott County | 574 ft |
| 7 | Wapello | Louisa County | 579 ft |
| 8 | Camanche | Clinton County | 580 ft |
| 9 | Fredonia | Louisa County | 594 ft |
| 10 | Bonaparte | Van Buren County | 596 ft |
- †Montrose's published elevation (528 ft) differs from our measured figure by about 18 feet.
This ranking is one slice of the full List. The City List with Coordinates carries every U.S. city, town, and township — all 48,490 — 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 — ranked where the spread allows it.
Methodology & sources
About this ranking. Incorporated towns are municipalities recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau; census-designated places, townships, and unincorporated communities are not included. Each elevation is approximate: it is measured at the Census interior point, a point inside the town's boundary rather than the town center or city hall, using U.S. Geological Survey elevation data. Towns whose boundary is mostly water are excluded from this list: at these elevations, the interior point can land on open water rather than land, which would make the figure meaningless rather than merely approximate.