# How big is Iowa?

Iowa covers 56,273 square miles (145,746 km²), 55,857 of them land. It is the 26th-biggest state, about the size of Bangladesh.

- 56,273 square miles
- 145,746 km²
- 36 million acres
- 27.2 million football fields

Interactive map, to drop it on any town at its true size: https://how-big-is.com/iowa/

## Iowa against Bangladesh

Bangladesh covers about 57,000 square miles, so Iowa is about the same size. Drag Iowa over Bangladesh on the map above to compare.

## Between two rivers

Iowa runs from the Mississippi River on the east to the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers on the west.

## How it compares

- 36.4× the size of [Rhode Island](https://how-big-is.com/rhode-island/), the smallest state
- ≈ 1× about the same size as [New York State](https://how-big-is.com/new-york-state/)
- ≈ 1× about the same size as [Illinois](https://how-big-is.com/illinois/)
- 8.5% of the area of [Alaska](https://how-big-is.com/alaska/), the largest state
- 208× the size of [the Little Giant Fire](https://how-big-is.com/little-giant-fire/)
- 36 million [acres](https://how-big-is.com/an-acre/)
- 27.2 million [American football fields](https://how-big-is.com/a-football-field/)
- 20.4 million [soccer pitches](https://how-big-is.com/a-soccer-field/)
- 42,722× the size of [Central Park](https://how-big-is.com/central-park/)
- 296,460× the size of [Vatican City](https://how-big-is.com/vatican-city/)
- 16.2× the size of [Yellowstone National Park](https://how-big-is.com/yellowstone-national-park/)
- 295× the size of [Lake Tahoe](https://how-big-is.com/lake-tahoe/)
- 6.7% of the area of [Greenland](https://how-big-is.com/greenland/)
- 205× the size of [Anglesey](https://how-big-is.com/anglesey/)
- 255× the size of [the Isle of Man](https://how-big-is.com/isle-of-man/)

## Questions people ask

**How many square miles is Iowa?**
56,273 square miles (145,746 km²), 55,857 of them land.

**Is Iowa bigger than Minnesota?**
No. Minnesota is about 1.5 times its size.

**Where does Iowa rank by size?**
26th of the 50 states by total area, and 23rd by land area.

**How big is Iowa compared to Texas?**
About 21% of the size of Texas.

## Where the numbers come from

Official figure: 56,273 square miles in all, 55,857 of them land, per the US Census Bureau. Outline: US Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/cartographic-boundary.html), licence: Public domain.

Credit: Map: how-big-is.com. Outline: US Census Bureau.