Black Hawk County, Iowa, USA

Black Hawk County is located in northeastern Iowa, centered on the Cedar River and the adjoining cities of Waterloo and Cedar Falls. It is bordered by Bremer and Fayette counties to the north, Buchanan County to the east, Benton and Tama counties to the south, and Grundy and Butler counties to the west. Waterloo is the county seat and largest city, while Waterloo and Cedar Falls together anchor the metropolitan area and serve as a regional center for manufacturing, healthcare, education, agriculture and transportation. The county’s terrain is predominantly level to gently rolling, with broad agricultural areas and floodplains surrounding the Cedar River and its tributaries. Interstate 380, U.S. routes 20, 63 and 218, and several Iowa highways connect the county with Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Des Moines and other Midwestern markets. Black Hawk County covers about 566 square miles of land and had 131,144 residents at the 2020 census.