North of Norfolk, U.S. 81 is a two-lane, undivided highway which passes through no towns before exiting the state in Cedar County.
U.S. Route 66 | U.S. Route 1 | U.S. Route 6 | U.S. Route 101 | Route 66 | U.S. Route 30 | New Jersey Route 4 | European route E65 | U.S. Route 40 | California State Route 1 | U.S. Route 1 in Maine | Pennsylvania Route 309 | European route E18 | U.S. Route 23 | European route E4 | U.S. Route 9 in New York | U.S. Route 11 | Pennsylvania Route 82 | European route E70 | U.S. Route 90 | U.S. Route 75 | U.S. Route 61 | U.S. Route 60 | Pennsylvania Route 73 | New York State Route 32 | European route E55 | U.S. Route 80 | U.S. Route 71 | U.S. Route 51 | U.S. Route 22 |
It goes west on Kansas Ave. for about two miles (3 km) in a concurrency with US-56 and turns south on Main Street for two miles (3 km), passing Central Christian College and National Cooperative Refinery Association.
Trunk Highway 236 served as an east-west route crossing the Bois de Sioux River and, with another road in South Dakota, connecting U.S. Route 75 with U.S. Route 81.