Searsboro, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Sugar Creek Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50242. The Survey maps it on the Searsboro quadrangle. 129 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 843 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresSearsboro fell from 148 to 129 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 | 148 | |
| 2020 | 129 | -19 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 8 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 Des Moines quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Searsboro quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Grinnell quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
16 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Searsboro between 2005 and 2020, burning about 214 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 | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 May 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 27 May 2018 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 May 2014 | Smoking | 6.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 April 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 27 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Searsboro: 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Sharon Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Gilbraeth Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
14 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Searsboro in 14 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 7 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2007 | Tornado (EF2) | Searsboro | $2,500,000 | Tornado moved into Poweshiek County from Jasper County. It lifted west of Malcom.| |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Searsboro | $50,000 | Barn destroyed by high winds. |
| August 2010 | Flood | Searsboro | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Searsboro | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Searsboro | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Searsboro | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Searsboro | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Searsboro | $5,000 | Estimated 60 MPH winds. |
| April 2010 | Hail | Searsboro | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Searsboro | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Searsboro | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Searsboro | - | Personal weather station gust to 63 mph. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Searsboro | - | Mesonet personal weather station report of a 78 mph thunderstorm wind gust. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Searsboro | - | Gust measured via personal weather station. |
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 Searsboro | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1890249 | 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 461495. 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.





