Polk County sits in the middle of the state, and its seat is Des Moines, which also happens to be the capital of Iowa. The county borders Boone and Story counties to the north, Jasper County to the east, Warren County to the south, and Dallas County to the west. It’s the most populous county in the state by a wide margin, and it doesn’t share a border with more than five other counties despite its size — the shape is close to a square.
Des Moines anchors the county and is by far its largest city. After that comes West Des Moines, then Ankeny, Urbandale, Johnston, Altoona, Clive, Pleasant Hill, Windsor Heights, Bondurant, and Polk City. Smaller towns round things out: Grimes straddles the Polk-Dallas line, and Mitchellville, Elkhart, Alleman, and Runnells sit further out toward the county’s edges. Some of these places blur into one another along the metro’s growing edge. Others, like Runnells, still feel like standalone farm towns.
What Polk County is known for
This is the seat of state government, so the Iowa State Capitol and the bulk of state agency offices are here. It’s also the center of Iowa’s insurance and financial services industry — a fact that shapes the skyline downtown more than most visitors expect. Drake University calls Des Moines home, and the Iowa State Fairgrounds sit on the east side of the city, drawing crowds every August for one of the largest state fairs in the country. Adventureland, the regional amusement park, is in Altoona. The Des Moines and Raccoon rivers converge downtown, and a long network of paved trails follows both waterways through the metro — one of the more extensive urban trail systems in the Midwest.
Getting around
Interstate 80 crosses the county east-west, and Interstate 35 runs through it north-south, with the two overlapping for a stretch on the west side of Des Moines. Interstate 235 loops through the heart of the city itself, connecting downtown to the western suburbs. US Highway 6, US Highway 65, and US Highway 69 also pass through the county, along with a web of state highways that link the smaller towns to the metro core. Traffic on 235 and the 80/35 mixmaster can back up at rush hour, so anyone new to the area should expect that going in.
County offices
The county recorder‘s office handles land records, deeds, and marriage licenses. If you need to prove you own a piece of property, or you’re getting married and need the paperwork squared away, that’s the office. The county assessor determines property values for tax purposes — worth a call if you think your home’s assessed value is out of line with reality. The county auditor oversees elections and keeps the county’s financial books, and is also the office to contact about voter registration. The county treasurer collects property taxes and handles vehicle registration and titling. Polk County, like every county in the state, maintains its own website with current contact information, hours, and online services, and the Iowa State Association of Counties keeps a directory linking to all 99 counties if you’re not sure where to start.
Parks, lakes, and public land
Saylorville Lake is the big one — a reservoir on the Des Moines River managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, with beaches, boat ramps, and trails ringing much of its shoreline. Big Creek State Park sits just north of Saylorville and offers a smaller, calmer lake for fishing and paddling. Jester Park, a Polk County Conservation property near Granger, has an equestrian center, a nature center, and miles of trail through timber and prairie. Closer to the city, Gray’s Lake in Des Moines is a favorite for evening walks and runs, ringed by a paved loop and a pedestrian bridge that lights up at night. Easter Lake and Yellow Banks Park offer more low-key options for fishing and picnicking, and the Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt northeast of the metro protects a stretch of river-bottom woods and wetland that’s popular with birders.
School districts
Des Moines Public Schools is the largest district by enrollment and serves the capital city itself. The suburbs run their own districts: Ankeny Community, West Des Moines Community, Johnston Community, Urbandale Community, Southeast Polk, North Polk, Saydel, and Bondurant-Farrar all operate within the county, and district lines don’t always match city limits exactly. Anyone buying a home in the county should check which district a specific address falls into before assuming — a Des Moines mailing address doesn’t guarantee Des Moines schools, particularly near the edges of the city.
Property taxes and permits
Property tax bills in Polk County are based on assessed value, set by the county assessor, and levied by the various taxing authorities that overlap a given property — city, school district, county, and sometimes a special district on top of that. The county treasurer’s office collects the payments and can walk you through payment schedules and any assistance programs that might apply. Building permits, meanwhile, are handled at the city level within incorporated areas; unincorporated parts of the county fall under Polk County’s own planning and development office. Anyone doing new construction, an addition, or even a fence in some jurisdictions should check with the relevant city or county office before starting work, since requirements vary block to block depending on who has jurisdiction. The State of Iowa’s government portal is a reasonable starting point for state-level permits and licenses that apply on top of local rules, particularly anything involving environmental review or state highway access.