How Many City Names Are Shared by South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa?

What's in a name?

Well when it comes to naming a city or town, it usually boils down to a few key areas: bodies of water, local landmarks, community founders, or historical figures/places.

Between South Dakota (311), Iowa (947), and Minnesota (853), there are 2,111 towns and cities on the map, but how many names are common to all three states?

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Not as many as you might think.

An exhaustive search of Wikipedia's current list of incorporated places in the Tri-State area found just ten.

SHARED CITY CITY NAMES (population)

• Arlington (SD: 921, IA: 419, MN: 2,260)
• Aurora (SD: 1,071, IA: 169, MN: 1,667)
• Badger (SD: 130, IA: 522, MN: 426)
• Brandon (SD: 10,950, IA: 341, MN: 504)
• Buffalo (SD: 349, IA: 1,176, MN: 16,386)
• Centerville (SD: 922, IA: 5,412, MN: 3,948)
• Clear Lake (SD: 1,192, IA: 7,687, MN: 655)
• Fairfax (SD: 99, IA: 2,828, MN: 1,241)
• Montrose (SD: 454, IA: 738, MN: 3,841)
• Raymond (SD: 49, IA: 759, MN: 794)

You may notice one city that is not on the list.

Springfield.

Contrary to popular belief, there is not a Springfield in all 50 states. Currently, 34 states have a Springfield within their borders, including South Dakota and Minnesota.

Iowa is one of the 16 Springfield-less states in America.

Some of the other most common city names in America:

• Franklin (28)
• Clinton (27)
• Washington (27)
• Madison (27)
• Chester (26)
• Greenville (26)
• Marion (26)