Iowa · off-grid scores, county by county · 2026

Which Iowa counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 99 Iowa counties we have scored, Keokuk County scores highest at 94 and Tama County lowest at 75. Iowa ranks 21st of 50 overall, at 88 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 2 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 99 counties · 494 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsIowa ranks 21st of 50, 88 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #18 and #23. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Iowa, best score first

Find a county99 counties


Keokuk → 17 people / sq mi	94	23	20	13	14	14	10
Mahaska → 38 people / sq mi	94	23	20	13	14	14	10
Wapello → 81 people / sq mi	94	23	20	13	14	14	10
Jefferson → 36 people / sq mi	93	23	20	13	15	13	9
Marion → 61 people / sq mi	93	22	20	13	14	14	10
Monroe → 17 people / sq mi	93	22	20	13	15	13	10
Van Buren → 15 people / sq mi	93	21	20	13	14	15	10
Washington → 40 people / sq mi	93	23	20	13	15	13	9
Cass → 23 people / sq mi	92	22	20	13	14	14	9
Des Moines → 92 people / sq mi	92	21	20	13	15	13	10
Dubuque → 163 people / sq mi	92	23	19	13	15	13	9
Jackson → 30 people / sq mi	92	22	20	13	15	13	9
Warren → 97 people / sq mi	92	22	19	13	14	14	10
Winneshiek → 29 people / sq mi	92	23	20	12	15	13	9
Carroll → 36 people / sq mi	91	21	20	13	14	14	9
Delaware → 31 people / sq mi	91	23	20	13	14	12	9
Fremont → 13 people / sq mi	91	19	20	13	15	14	10
Guthrie → 18 people / sq mi	91	22	20	13	13	14	9
Lee → 63 people / sq mi	91	20	20	13	15	13	10
Louisa → 26 people / sq mi	91	21	20	13	14	13	10
Marshall → 70 people / sq mi	91	22	20	12	14	14	9
Page → 28 people / sq mi	91	18	20	14	15	14	10
Poweshiek → 32 people / sq mi	91	21	20	12	15	14	9
Adams → 8 people / sq mi	90	20	19	13	14	14	10
Appanoose → 24 people / sq mi	90	20	20	13	15	12	10
Clayton → 22 people / sq mi	90	23	20	12	14	12	9
Dallas → 189 people / sq mi	90	20	20	13	14	14	9
Hancock → 19 people / sq mi	90	22	20	12	14	13	9
Johnson → 257 people / sq mi	90	22	20	13	13	13	9
Jones → 36 people / sq mi	90	23	20	12	12	14	9
Linn → 319 people / sq mi	90	23	20	13	13	12	9
Lucas → 20 people / sq mi	90	23	19	13	13	12	10
Mills → 34 people / sq mi	90	21	20	13	13	14	9
Montgomery → 24 people / sq mi	90	20	20	13	14	13	10
Muscatine → 97 people / sq mi	90	22	20	13	13	13	9
Wayne → 13 people / sq mi	90	21	19	13	15	12	10
Woodbury → 121 people / sq mi	90	21	20	12	15	13	9
Adair → 13 people / sq mi	89	21	17	13	14	14	10
Audubon → 13 people / sq mi	89	20	19	13	14	14	9
Boone → 47 people / sq mi	89	22	20	13	13	12	9
Butler → 24 people / sq mi	89	22	20	12	13	13	9
Crawford → 22 people / sq mi	89	19	20	13	14	14	9
Floyd → 31 people / sq mi	89	20	20	12	14	14	9
Greene → 15 people / sq mi	89	22	20	13	13	12	9
Hamilton → 26 people / sq mi	89	22	20	12	14	12	9
Hardin → 29 people / sq mi	89	22	20	13	13	12	9
Humboldt → 22 people / sq mi	89	22	20	12	14	12	9
Plymouth → 30 people / sq mi	89	19	20	13	14	14	9
Polk → 883 people / sq mi	89	21	20	13	14	12	9
Pottawattamie → 98 people / sq mi	89	21	20	13	13	13	9
Shelby → 20 people / sq mi	89	19	20	13	14	14	9
Story → 172 people / sq mi	89	21	20	13	14	12	9
Benton → 36 people / sq mi	88	22	20	12	13	12	9
Black Hawk → 231 people / sq mi	88	23	20	12	12	12	9
Buchanan → 36 people / sq mi	88	23	20	12	12	12	9
Calhoun → 17 people / sq mi	88	21	20	12	14	12	9
Cerro Gordo → 75 people / sq mi	88	21	20	12	14	12	9
Chickasaw → 23 people / sq mi	88	23	18	12	14	12	9
Davis → 18 people / sq mi	88	20	20	13	15	13	7
Dickinson → 47 people / sq mi	88	21	20	12	14	12	9
Fayette → 26 people / sq mi	88	21	20	12	14	12	9
Grundy → 25 people / sq mi	88	20	20	12	13	14	9
Iowa → 28 people / sq mi	88	21	19	13	14	12	9
Lyon → 21 people / sq mi	88	20	20	12	14	13	9
Monona → 12 people / sq mi	88	21	20	13	13	12	9
Worth → 18 people / sq mi	88	22	20	12	13	12	9
Clarke → 22 people / sq mi	87	22	19	13	14	12	7
Emmet → 23 people / sq mi	87	20	20	12	14	12	9
Franklin → 17 people / sq mi	87	22	19	12	13	12	9
Ida → 16 people / sq mi	87	17	19	13	15	14	9
Jasper → 52 people / sq mi	87	21	20	12	14	12	8
Kossuth → 15 people / sq mi	87	22	18	12	14	12	9
Palo Alto → 16 people / sq mi	87	21	20	12	13	12	9
Scott → 380 people / sq mi	87	19	20	13	12	14	9
Union → 28 people / sq mi	87	19	20	13	13	12	10
Webster → 51 people / sq mi	87	21	20	13	12	12	9
Winnebago → 26 people / sq mi	87	20	20	12	14	12	9
Allamakee → 22 people / sq mi	86	17	20	12	15	13	9
Bremer → 58 people / sq mi	86	23	20	11	13	12	7
Cedar → 32 people / sq mi	86	19	20	13	12	13	9
Clinton → 66 people / sq mi	86	16	20	13	14	14	9
Decatur → 14 people / sq mi	86	14	20	13	15	14	10
Harrison → 21 people / sq mi	86	19	19	13	13	13	9
Henry → 45 people / sq mi	86	16	20	13	14	14	9
Mitchell → 22 people / sq mi	86	20	20	12	14	11	9
Ringgold → 9 people / sq mi	86	15	19	13	15	14	10
Taylor → 11 people / sq mi	86	16	19	13	14	14	10
Wright → 22 people / sq mi	86	20	20	12	13	12	9
Clay → 29 people / sq mi	85	18	20	12	14	12	9
Howard → 20 people / sq mi	85	20	20	11	14	11	9
Madison → 30 people / sq mi	85	16	20	13	13	14	9
Osceola → 15 people / sq mi	85	18	20	12	14	12	9
Sac → 17 people / sq mi	85	19	19	13	13	12	9
Buena Vista → 36 people / sq mi	84	16	20	13	14	12	9
Pocahontas → 12 people / sq mi	82	19	20	12	13	12	6
Sioux → 47 people / sq mi	82	13	20	12	14	14	9
Cherokee → 20 people / sq mi	80	16	14	13	14	14	9
O'Brien → 25 people / sq mi	80	13	20	12	14	12	9
Tama → 23 people / sq mi	75	22	20	12	9	10	2

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

93% of Iowa's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Keokuk, Mahaska and Wapello. The weakest are Tama, Cherokee and O'Brien. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and water (rain, wells and salty or weak wells).

What separates them

Buildability: Keokuk County scores 10 of 10, Tama County 2. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Water: Keokuk County scores 23 of 25, O'Brien County 13. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
Hazard: Jefferson County scores 15 of 15, Tama County 9. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Food: Van Buren County scores 15 of 15, Tama County 10. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Legal: Keokuk County scores 20 of 20, Cherokee County 14. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.
Solar: Page County scores 14 of 15, Howard County 11. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.

The state's soft spot

Solar is Iowa's weakest dimension, at 12 of 15 for the state as a whole. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $31k to $119k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Iowa row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Iowa

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Iowa? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsIowa: 88 of 100, 21st of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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