[3] Swea City was petitioned for incorporation on December 11, 1894 with a population of 161.

Several objections were filed with the reasons for objection listed as, "One, the judges of the election administered the oath to themselves swearing in each other; and Two, the words 'for incorporation' were written on one ballot while 'against corporation' was written on another ballot."

It was implied that the choice needed to be available on a single ballot in order to be valid.

Later a second petition was filed this time on April 19, 1895 and the election was held at a schoolhouse.

[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.74 square miles (1.92 km2), all land.

As of the census of 2020,[9] there were 566 people, 257 households, and 133 families residing in the city.

Hispanic or Latino persons of any race comprised 5.7% of the population.

38.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

36.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Swea City is a part of the North Kossuth Community School District,[12] which was formed on July 1, 1978 by the merger of the Swea City and Ledyard school districts.