Taylor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,896, making it the fourth-least populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Bedford. The county was formed in 1847 and named after General and President Zachary Taylor.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 535 square miles (1,390 km²), of which 532 square miles (1,380 km²) is land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²) (0.5%) is water.

A portion of Taylor County at one time was part of Missouri.

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 5,896 and a population density of 11.000/sq mi (4.247/km²). 95.76% of the population reported being of one race.

The median age was 43.5 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 24.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.3 males age 18 and over.

There were 2,506 households in the county, of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.8% were married-couple households, 18.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 2,885 housing units, of which 13.1% were vacant, leaving 2,506 occupied units; among the occupied units, 77.4% were owner-occupied and 22.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.9%.

<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.