THE AMES LAND BRIEF
Land in the
Des Moines Lobe setting.
Ames city has 28.2 square miles of land in Story County. Its Census reference point is in Des Moines Lobe, within Western Corn Belt Plains.
Glacial till plains and windblown loess hills make up the Western Corn Belt landscape. Near-level and rolling terrain are interspersed with steeper river valleys and hills.
Regional context: Western Corn Belt Plains ↗ · Classification at the Census reference point
Ames and Story County
Ames is associated with Story County in the Census boundary data. Start with the parcel’s tax bill to match the property to that jurisdiction, then confirm which government handles its land use.
Ames by land and water
The Census records 0.35 square miles of water within Ames, or 1.2% of its total area. It is 1 percentage points higher than the 0.2% recorded for Story County. This is geographic context; waterfront status and usable land must be checked at the parcel.
For scale, Ames city has 25.6 times the land area of nearby Gilbert city (1.1 square miles). These areas describe boundaries, not comparable property prices.

