County statistics of the United States

In 45 of the 50 states of the United States, the county is used for the level of local government immediately below the state itself. Louisiana uses parishes, and Alaska uses boroughs. In Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, some or all counties within states have no governments of their own; the counties continue to exist as legal entities, however, and are used by states for some administrative functions and by the United States Census bureau for statistical analysis. There are 3,242 counties and county equivalent administrative units in total, including the District of Columbia and 100 county-equivalents in the U.S. territories.

There are 41 independent cities in the United States. In Virginia, any municipality that is incorporated as a city legally becomes independent of any county. Where indicated, the statistics below do not include Virginia's 38 independent cities.

In Alaska, most of the land area of the state has no county-level government. Those parts of the state are divided by the United States Census Bureau into census areas, which are not the same as boroughs. The state's largest statistical division by area is the Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, which is larger than any of the state's boroughs. Although Anchorage is called a municipality, it is considered a consolidated city and borough.

There are 100 county-equivalents in the territories of the United States: they are the 3 districts and 2 atolls of American Samoa, all of Guam (Guam as one single county-equivalent), the 4 municipalities in the Northern Mariana Islands, the 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico, the 3 main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the 9 islands in the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands. All of these territorial county-equivalents are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Count

This is the number of counties and county-equivalents for each state, the District of Columbia, the 5 inhabited territories of the United States, and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands.

thumb|right|Texas has 254 counties, the most of any state

thumb|right|Delaware has three counties, the fewest of any state

Lists of counties and county equivalents by number per political division:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Count

! State, federal district or territory

! Notes

| 254 || Texas || The most counties of any U.S. state

| 159 || Georgia ||

| 133 || Virginia || 95 counties and 38 independent cities

| 120 || Kentucky ||

| 115 || Missouri || 114 counties and 1 independent city

| 105 || Kansas ||

| 102 || Illinois ||

| 100 || North Carolina ||

| 99 || Iowa ||

| 95 || Tennessee ||

| 93 || Nebraska ||

| 92 || Indiana ||

| 88 || Ohio ||

| 87 || Minnesota ||

| 83 || Michigan ||

| 82 || Mississippi ||

| 78 || Puerto Rico || Puerto Rico has no counties. The 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau

| 77 || Oklahoma ||

| 75 || Arkansas ||

| 72 || Wisconsin ||

| 67 || Alabama ||

| 67 || Florida ||

| 67 || Pennsylvania ||

| 66 || South Dakota ||

| 64 || Colorado ||

| 64 || Louisiana || Louisiana has no counties. The 64 parishes of Louisiana are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau

| 62 || New York || New York City is a sui generis jurisdiction, in which the city government consists of 5 boroughs each coterminous with a county of the State of New York

| 58 || California ||

| 56 || Montana ||

| 55 || West Virginia ||

| 53 || North Dakota ||

| 46 || South Carolina ||

| 44 || Idaho ||

| 39 || Washington ||

| 36 || Oregon ||

| 33 || New Mexico ||

| 30 || Alaska || Alaska has no counties. The following areas in Alaska are counted as county-equivalents: the 19 organized boroughs and, in its Unorganized Borough, 11 designated census areas

| 29 || Utah ||

| 24 || Maryland || 23 counties and 1 independent city

| 23 || Wyoming ||

| 21 || New Jersey ||

| 17 || Nevada || 16 counties and 1 independent city

| 16 || Maine ||

| 15 || Arizona ||

| 14 || Massachusetts || 8 of the 14 counties in Massachusetts were disincorporated in the 1990s and early 2000s; local government in these areas consists of cities and towns. Only one of the remaining 6 counties is a consolidated town-county

| 14 || Vermont ||

| 10 || New Hampshire ||

| 9 || U.S. Minor Outlying Islands || The U.S. Minor Outlying Islands does not have counties. The 9 islands in the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau

| 9 || Connecticut || The U.S. Census Bureau uses Connecticut's nine planning regions instead of its eight historic counties for statistical purposes.

| 5 || American Samoa || The 3 districts and 2 unorganized atolls of American Samoa are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau. American Samoa locally has 14 "counties", but these "counties" are not counted as counties by the U.S. Census Bureau (they are treated as "minor civil divisions")

| 1 || Guam || Guam has no counties; Guam is considered both a state-equivalent and a county-equivalent for statistical purposes by the U.S. Census Bureau (similar to the District of Columbia)

! Rank

! County

! Population

| align="right" | 1

| Los Angeles County, California

| align="right" | 9,694,934

| align="right" | 2

| Cook County, Illinois

| align="right" | 5,194,625

| align="right" | 3

| Harris County, Texas

| align="right" | 5,045,026

| align="right" | 4

| Maricopa County, Arizona

| align="right" | 4,689,558

| align="right" | 5

| San Diego County, California

| align="right" | 3,282,248

| align="right" | 6

| Orange County, California

| align="right" | 3,149,507

| align="right" | 7

| Miami-Dade County, Florida

| align="right" | 2,802,029

| align="right" | 8

| Dallas County, Texas

| align="right" | 2,661,397

| align="right" | 9

| Kings County, New York

| align="right" | 2,653,963

| align="right" | 10

| Riverside County, California

| align="right" | 2,544,916

| align="right" | 11

| Clark County, Nevada

| align="right" | 2,407,226

| align="right" | 12

| Queens County, New York

| align="right" | 2,358,182

| align="right" | 13

| King County, Washington

| align="right" | 2,344,939

| align="right" | 14

| Tarrant County, Texas

| align="right" | 2,248,466

| align="right" | 15

| San Bernardino County, California

| align="right" | 2,224,091

| align="right" | 16

| Bexar County, Texas

| align="right" | 2,160,088

| align="right" | 17

| Broward County, Florida

| align="right" | 2,013,317

| align="right" | 18

| Santa Clara County, California

| align="right" | 1,914,391

| align="right" | 19

| Wayne County, Michigan

| align="right" | 1,769,038

| align="right" | 20

| New York County, New York

| align="right" | 1,664,862

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Smallest population counties nationwide (2025 Census estimate)

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Smallest population counties in all U.S. territory (2020 Census)

! Rank

! County

! Population

| align="right" | 1

| Baker Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 2

| Howland Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 3

| Jarvis Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 4

| Johnston Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 5

| Kingman Reef, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 6

| Navassa Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 7

| Northern Islands Municipality, Northern Mariana Islands

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 8

| Rose Atoll, American Samoa

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 9

| Swains Island, American Samoa

| align="right" | 0

| align="right" | 10

| Palmyra Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

| align="right" | 20

File:Clear Day at Baldwin Hills.jpg|Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California, the most populous county in the United States

File:Strawn_Island_at_Palmyra_Atoll_NWR_(5123999194).jpg|Palmyra Atoll — the least-populous inhabited county or county-equivalent in the United States

File:Loving County watertower.jpg|Loving County, Texas, the least populous county in the main 50-states in the United States.

</gallery>

Population per state or territory

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Most and least populous counties per state/territory (2021 Census estimate)

! State, federal district, or territory

! Least populous

! Population

! Most populous

! Population

| Greene

| 7,629

| Jefferson

| 667,820

| Yakutat

| 704

| Anchorage

| 288,121

| Rose Atoll

| 0

| Western District

| 31,819

| Greenlee

| 9,404

| Maricopa

| 4,496,588

| Calhoun

| 4,741

| Pulaski

| 397,821

| Alpine

| 1,235

| Los Angeles

| 9,829,544

| San Juan

| 733

| El Paso

| 737,867

| Windham

| 116,418

| Fairfield

| 959,768

| Kent

| 184,149

| New Castle

| 571,708

| District of Columbia

| 670,050

| District of Columbia

| 670,050

| Liberty

| 7,900

| Miami-Dade

| 2,662,777

| Georgia

| Taliaferro

| 1,558

| Fulton

| 1,065,334

| Guam

| 153,835

| Guam

| 153,835

| Kalawao

| 82

| Honolulu

| 1,000,890

| Clark

| 792

| Ada

| 511,931

| Hardin

| 3,650

| Cook

| 5,173,146

| Ohio

| 5,978

| Marion

| 971,102

| Adams

| 3,641

| Polk

| 496,844

| Greeley

| 1,304

| Johnson

| 613,219

| Robertson

| 2,257

| Jefferson

| 777,874

| Tensas

| 4,043

| East Baton Rouge

| 453,301

| Piscataquis

| 17,165

| Cumberland

| 305,231

| Kent

| 19,270

| Montgomery

| 1,054,827

| Nantucket

| 14,491

| Middlesex

| 1,614,742

| Keweenaw

| 2,107

| Wayne

| 1,774,816

| Traverse

| 3,286

| Hennepin

| 1,267,416

| Issaquena

| 1,280

| Hinds

| 222,679

| Worth

| 1,983

| St. Louis

| 997,187

| Petroleum

| 519

| Yellowstone

| 167,146

| McPherson

| 379

| Douglas

| 585,008

| Esmeralda

| 743

| Clark

| 2,292,476

| Coos

| 31,268

| Hillsborough

| 422,937

| Salem

| 65,046

| Bergen

| 953,819

| Harding

| 639

| Bernalillo

| 674,393

| Hamilton

| 5,119

| Kings

| 2,641,052

| Tyrrell

| 3,254

| Wake

| 1,150,204

| Slope

| 690

| Cass

| 186,562

| Northern Islands Municipality

| 7

| Saipan Municipality

| 43,385

| Vinton

| 12,696

| Franklin

| 1,321,414

| Cimarron

| 2,248

| Oklahoma

| 798,575

| Wheeler

| 1,451

| Multnomah

| 803,377

| Cameron

| 4,459

| Philadelphia

| 1,576,251

| Culebra Municipality

| 1,792

| San Juan Municipality

| 342,259

| Bristol

| 50,818

| Providence

| 658,221

| Allendale

| 7,858

| Greenville

| 533,834

| Jones

| 879

| Minnehaha

| 199,685

| Pickett

| 5,079

| Shelby

| 924,454

| Loving

| 57

| Harris

| 4,728,030

| U.S. Minor Outlying Islands*

| 6 entities

| 0

| Wake Island

| 100

| Daggett

| 976

| Salt Lake

| 1,186,421

| Essex

| 5,925

| Chittenden

| 168,865

| Virgin Islands (U.S.)

| Saint John Island

| 3,881

| Saint Thomas Island

| 42,261

| Highland

| 2,226

| Fairfax

| 1,139,720

| Garfield

| 2,286

| King

| 2,269,675

| Wirt

| 5,063

| Kanawha

| 177,952

| Menominee

| 4,289

| Milwaukee

| 928,059

| Niobrara

| 2,438

| Laramie

| 100,863

Area

Nationwide land area extremes

The largest counties and county-equivalents are organized boroughs and the census areas of Alaska with the top two being Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area () and North Slope Borough (). The smallest counties and county equivalents (in the 50 states) are the independent cities of Virginia with the extreme being Falls Church at .

The following two tables exclude county-equivalents:

{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right: 1em"

|+ Largest counties by land area nationwide (excluding county-equivalents) Calculations are made by dividing the population by the land area. All county equivalents are included. This list includes the 50 most densely populated counties and county-equivalents in the 50 states and District of Columbia, plus the 9 highest-density municipalities (county-equivalents) of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is the only U.S. territory with population densities (of county-equivalents) high enough to be on this list. Note that many of these high-density counties are coterminous with large cities (for example San Francisco and Philadelphia) or are independent cities in Virginia (as well as Baltimore and St. Louis) which are considered county-equivalents.

{| class="wikitable"

! Rank

! County name

! Principal cities

! Pop/sq mi

! Pop/km2

| 1

| New York County, New York

| Manhattan, New York City

| 69,468

| 26,822

| 2

| Kings County, New York

| Brooklyn, New York City

| 35,369

| 13,656

| 3

| Bronx County, New York

| The Bronx, New York City

| 32,903

| 12,704

| 4

| Queens County, New York

| Queens, New York City

| 20,554

| 7,936

| 5

| City and County of San Francisco, California

| San Francisco

| 17,179

| 6,633

| 6

| Hudson County, New Jersey

| Hoboken, Jersey City

| 13,732

| 5,302

| 7

| Suffolk County, Massachusetts

| Boston

| 12,417

| 4,794

| 8

| Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

| Philadelphia

| 11,379

| 4,394

| 9

| Washington, District of Columbia

| 9,857

| 3,806

| 10

| Alexandria, Virginia

| 9,314

| 3,596

| 11

| Arlington County, Virginia

| Arlington

| 8,853

| 3,520

| 12

| San Juan Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 8,262

| 3,190

| 13

| Richmond County, New York

| Staten Island, New York City

| 8,030

| 3,101

| 14

| City of Baltimore, Maryland

| 7,672

| 2,962

| 15

| Essex County, New Jersey

| Newark

| 6,212

| 2,398

| 16

| Falls Church, Virginia

| 6,170

| 2,382

| 17

| Cataño Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 5,809

| 2,243

| 18

| Manassas Park, Virginia

| 5,633

| 2,175

| 19

| Cook County, Illinois

| Chicago

| 5,495

| 2,122

| 20

| Union County, New Jersey

| Elizabeth

| 5,216

| 2,014

| 21

| City of Saint Louis, Missouri

| 5,157

| 1,991

| 22

| Nassau County, New York

| Hempstead, western Long Island

| 4,705

| 1,817

| 23

| Bayamón Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 4,695

| 1,813

| 24

| Norfolk, Virginia

| 4,486

| 1,732

| 25

| Charlottesville, Virginia

| 4,242

| 1,638

| 26

| Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

| Milwaukee

| 3,926

| 1,516

| 27

| Denver County, Colorado

| Denver

| 3,923

| 1,515

| 28

| Carolina Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 3,900

| 1,506

| 29

| Bergen County, New Jersey

| Hackensack

| 3,884

| 1,500

| 30

| Toa Baja Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 3,856

| 1,489

| 31

| Manassas, Virginia

| 3,828

| 1,478

| 32

| Orange County, California

| Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine

| 3,808

| 1,470

| 33

| Fairfax City, Virginia

| 3,617

| 1,396

| 34

| Trujillo Alto Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 3,604

| 1,392

| 35

| Guaynabo Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 3,551

| 1,371

| 36

| Richmond, Virginia

| 3,415

| 1,318

| 37

| Pinellas County, Florida

| St. Petersburg

| 3,348

| 1,292

| 38

| Ramsey County, Minnesota

| St. Paul

| 3,342

| 1,290

| 39

| Delaware County, Pennsylvania

| Southwest Philadelphia suburbs

| 3,039

| 1,173

| 40

| Wayne County, Michigan

| Detroit

| 2,974

| 1,148

| 41

| Portsmouth, Virginia

| 2,839

| 1,096

| 42

| Winchester, Virginia

| 2,838

| 1,096

| 43

| Lexington, Virginia

| 2,820

| 1,089

| 44

| Harrisonburg, Virginia

| 2,808

| 1,084

| 45

| Cuyahoga County, Ohio

| Cleveland

| 2,800

| 1,081

| 46

| DuPage County, Illinois

| Western Chicago suburbs

| 2,800

| 1,081

| 47

| Fairfax County, Virginia

| Washington, D.C. suburbs

| 2,767

| 1,068

| 48

| Toa Alta Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 2,742

| 1,058

| 49

| Dallas County, Texas

| Dallas

| 2,718

| 1,049

| 50

| Passaic County, New Jersey

| Paterson

| 2,715

| 1,048

| 51

| Hampton, Virginia

| 2,674

| 1,032

| 52

| Newport News, Virginia

| 2,634

| 1,017

| 53

| Middlesex County, New Jersey

| New Brunswick, Edison

| 2,622

| 1,012

| 54

| DeKalb County, Georgia

| Atlanta suburbs and small part of Atlanta

| 2,586

| 998

| 55

| Caguas Municipality, Puerto Rico

| 2,439

| 942

| 56

| Los Angeles County, California

| Los Angeles

| 2,420

| 934

| 57

| Harris County, Texas

| Houston

| 2,402

| 928

| 58

| Fredericksburg, Virginia

| 2,326

| 898

| 59

| Camden County, New Jersey

| Camden

| 2,322

| 896

Least densely populated

thumb|right|265px|[[Baker Island|Baker Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands — one of the 8 county-equivalents with zero people]]

This list was generated by dividing the population by the land area. All county equivalents are included. The list is dominated by just a few states: Alaska, Montana, and Texas together comprise about two-thirds of the entries. The Unorganized Borough is not included here as a unit, but its census areas (non-governmental entities) are. If the census areas were removed from the list, the Unorganized Borough would rank fourteenth with a density of .

The 8 uninhabited county-equivalents in the U.S. territories are listed at the top of the table — these are technically the least-densely populated counties/county-equivalents in the United States, but since they have no people, they are listed unranked.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Counties with lowest population densities it and the independently incorporated Unified, Home Rule, First Class and Second Class boroughs roughly correspond to parishes in Louisiana and to counties in the other 48 states.

References

External links

Labor Statistics County Employment and Wages

de:County (Vereinigte Staaten)#Statistiken