Bancroft, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Greenwood Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50517. The Survey maps it on the Bancroft quadrangle. 699 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,181 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresBancroft fell from 732 to 699 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 732 | |
| 2020 | 699 | -33 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Fairmont quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Fairmont quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Bancroft quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Estherville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
9 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Bancroft between 2003 and 2019, burning about 65 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 May 2009 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge | WEBER |
| 9 April 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge | UNIT 2 WEST |
| 6 April 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33 acres | Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge | VP SOUTH WILDFIRE |
| 29 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge | REFUGE SOUTH |
| 2 April 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge | B-POOL, AUTO-TOUR WILDFIRE |
| 19 April 2007 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge | WEBER |
| 16 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge | UNIT 2 WF |
| 28 March 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Iowa Wetland Management District | BLAZING STAR WF |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Bancroft: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Storms near this place
35 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bancroft in 35 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 20 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning, 2 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bancroft | $500,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bancroft | $250,000 | no account filed |
| September 1994 | Hail | Bancroft | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Bancroft | $25,000 | Black Cat Creek was flowing over Highway 169 and was under water between Burt and Bancroft. |
| June 1999 | Hail | Bancroft | $20,000 | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bancroft | $15,000 | A strong cold front began to move into the northwest corner of Iowa during the early evening hours. The air mass ahead of the front was very unstable. CAPE values were in the area of 4000 J-kg-1 with K indices around 40° C. and lifted indices around -4° C. Most of the dynamics with the system were to the north of Iowa, where indeed most of the severe weather occurred. Northwest and north central Iowa was on the south edge of the intense convection. Strong thunderstorms moved into the state during the mid evening hours. They produced high winds, heavy rain, and a small tornado. The tornado touched down in Emmet County west of Swea City. It caused little damage and was only on the ground briefly. High winds from the storm itself caused a lot of damage around the area. A grain bin was blown three quarters of a mile across a field just west of Swea City. High winds swept across Palo Alto County. Numerous trees and power lines were downed. The strongest winds occurred in Ruthven with 65 mph winds, and in Graettinger with winds around 80 mph. In Graettinger, the high winds downed a few buildings. There was other damage scattered around the area. A barn was leveled west of Emmetsburg. Other reports of damage to outbuildings and sheds were received across Winnebago and Palo Alto Counties as well. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bancroft | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bancroft | $15,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Bancroft | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Bancroft | $10,000 | The ground was covered in golf ball size hail. |
| June 2007 | Hail | Bancroft | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Lightning | Bancroft | $8,000 | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bancroft | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Bancroft | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Hail | Bancroft | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Bancroft | $3,000 | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Bancroft | $3,000 | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Bancroft | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Bancroft | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Bancroft | $2,000 | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Bancroft | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Bancroft | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Lightning | Bancroft | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 2025 | Hail | Bancroft | - | Relayed via EM. |
| June 2024 | Heavy Rain | Bancroft | - | Public report via social media of 5.25 inches of rain overnight. |
| June 2024 | Flood | Bancroft | - | US-169 northbound, Between County Road A38 and County Road P40 (2 to 3 miles north of the Bancroft area), areas of water over the road. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Bancroft | - | Spotter reported hail half dollar to 2 inches. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Bancroft | - | A report via social media of ping pong ball sized hail. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bancroft | - | Trained spotter reported dime-sized hail with wind gusts over 50 mph which caused significant damage to beans and corn. Delayed report with time estimated via radar. |
| May 2012 | Heavy Rain | Bancroft | - | Storm total of 3.20 inches since rain began around 1300 CST. |
| June 2010 | Funnel Cloud | Bancroft | - | The funnel cloud was about half way to the ground. |
| April 2013 | Hail | Bancroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Bancroft | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Bancroft | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Bancroft | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Bancroft | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1833104 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 454341. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.



