Elma Iowa Map
Explore Elma, Iowa, with this interactive street and satellite map.
This page also offers TOPO MAPS — the official USGS topographic sheets — plus USGS aerial imagery, a labelled USNG grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below.
Interactive Map of Elma, Iowa
How to Use This Elma, Iowa Map
This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Elma, Iowa. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture. Drag the map to pan to any area of Iowa or beyond.
Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).
TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the official USGS topographic maps from The National Map — contours, hydrography, land cover and shaded relief, the same mapping used for hiking, hunting and back-country navigation in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes. Imagery shows USGS aerial photography, mostly 1-metre NAIP. The search box finds any US town, county or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Elma.
Reading the map like a paper quad. Click Grid to overlay the U.S. National Grid (USNG), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.
Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as a USNG grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — USNG being the format FEMA and US search and rescue teams work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need cell coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load.
| City | Elma |
| State | Iowa (IA) |
| County | Howard County |
| Country | United States of America |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| Latitude | 43.246636 |
| Longitude | -92.43601 |
| Population | 505 |
| Density | 158.9 /km² |
| Incorporated | Yes |
| ZIP Code | 50628 |
| Area Code | 319 |
| County Seat | Cresco |
| School District | Howard-Winneshiek Community School District |
About Elma, Iowa
Elma is a locality in Howard County, Iowa, United States. It is a small community with a population of 505. The population density is 158.9 people per km². Elma is located at 43.2466°N, 92.4360°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. Elma is an incorporated locality. ZIP code: 50628.Elma sits amidst the vast, rhythmic expanse of the Iowa prairie, where the horizon stretches flat and wide, broken only by the silver-green blades of corn and the dark, upturned soil of the fields. It lies 36.0 miles north of Waverly, IA (from Waverly, IA: bearing 3°T), and is situated 17.2 miles northeast of Charles City. Mead Creek carves a quiet, unassuming path through the landscape, its gentle current providing a consistent, hidden pulse to the land just beyond the edge of the street grid. To the west, the subtle rise of the terrain hints at the distant presence of the Loess Hills, while the nearby Hart Pond Wildlife Area offers a sanctuary of tall grasses and seasonal water that reflects the deepening violet of the dusk sky. The air here carries the clean, sharp scent of turned earth and drying stalks, a fragrance that settles over the region with the weight of generations.
Elma maintains its character through the industry of the soil, grounded in an agricultural economy that dictates the pace of the year from the spring planting to the autumn harvest. The architecture of the streets recalls the midwestern migration of those who built their lives upon this fertile ground, leaving behind a legacy of sturdy, utilitarian construction and an unshowy, persistent civility. Lyla Marsh rests a few miles away, a quiet point of stillness in the landscape that serves as a subtle landmark for those who work the surrounding acres. Life in Elma moves with the steady, predictable gravity of the seasons, honoring a heritage of labor and quiet observation that remains as enduring as the prairie itself.
Nearby Outdoor Places
- Hart Pond Wildlife Area (Local Conservation Area) — 0.7 mi, 212° SW
- Joachim Woods Wildlife Area (Local Conservation Area) — 1.8 mi, 180° S
- Meirick's Pond Access (Local Park) — 4.2 mi, 269° W
- Elma Wildlife Management Area (State Conservation Area) — 5.0 mi, 268° W
- Wapsi Flats Wildlife Management Area (State Conservation Area) — 5.5 mi, 230° SW
- Lake Hendricks (Local Park) — 10.1 mi, 329° NW
- Jackson Number Twelve School Museum (Museum) — 14.4 mi, 128° SE
- Floyd County Historical Society Museum (Museum) — 17.6 mi, 224° SW
- Kellow House - Howard County Museum (Museum) — 18.2 mi, 060° NE
- Howard County Log Cabin Museum (Museum) — 18.2 mi, 062° NE
- Watts Theater (Cinema) — 19.0 mi, 278° W
- Lake Louise State Park (State Park) — 19.4 mi, 348° N
- Cedar Valley Memories Museum (Museum) — 20.3 mi, 278° W
- Upper Iowa River Wildlife Management Area (State Recreation Area) — 23.4 mi, 057° NE
- Saint Ansgar Veterans Memorial/ Freedom Rock (Monument) — 25.9 mi, 291° W
- Forestville Mystery Cave State Park (State Park) — 26.3 mi, 013° N
- Niagara Cave (Attraction) — 26.6 mi, 046° NE
- Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge (National Wildlife Refuge) — 29.1 mi, 071° E · 2,440 acres
- Sinkhole (Viewpoint) — 30.3 mi, 044° NE
- Butler County Freedom Rock (Monument) — 30.6 mi, 217° SW
- Storre Theatre (Theatre) — 31.9 mi, 082° E
- Painting Studio (Arts Centre) — 31.9 mi, 082° E
- 3-d Life Tree (Monument) — 32.0 mi, 082° E
- Kristin Wigley-Fleming Gallery (Gallery) — 32.1 mi, 082° E
- Jewel Theatre (Theatre) — 32.2 mi, 082° E
- Preston Veteran's Memorial (Attraction) — 34.4 mi, 031° NE
- Dancing St. Francis (Public Artwork) — 36.0 mi, 184° S
- McElroy Communication Arts Center (Arts Centre) — 36.0 mi, 184° S
- Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (National Wildlife Refuge) — 60.1 mi, 075° E · 274k acres
- Effigy Mounds National Monument (National Monument) — 61.4 mi, 099° E · 2,460 acres
Latest News: Elma
Loading news…
World News
Loading news-world…
More World News
Loading news-world…
About This Elma Map Page
This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Elma, Iowa. Coordinates: 43.246636, -92.43601. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.
Detailed location data for Elma includes the ZIP code (50628), telephone area code (319), county seat of Howard County (Cresco), and school district assignment (Howard-Winneshiek Community School District).
Search Maps opens a second, independent map. It searches OpenStreetMap for any US town, county or landmark by name; offers USGS topographic maps and USGS aerial imagery as base layers; overlays a labelled U.S. National Grid (USNG) so the map can be read like a printed topographic quad; measures distance and grid, true and magnetic bearings between any two points; and takes a single GPS fix reporting your position as a USNG grid reference and as latitude and longitude. Map tiles require cell coverage, but a GPS position does not, so the coordinates remain correct even where the map cannot load.
Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Location data | SimpleMaps US Cities Database; coordinates matched to USGS GNIS definitive data |
| Map layers | Google Maps; © OpenStreetMap contributors; USGS The National Map topographic and aerial imagery (public domain); magnetic declination from NOAA NCEI (World Magnetic Model) |
| Wikipedia validation | Article content matched to USGS GNIS coordinates via Wikipedia geosearch API. |
