County facts · United States · October 22, 2026

How Many Counties Are in the US? Counts by State

How many counties and county equivalents the US has, which states have the most and fewest, and the count for every state.

How many counties are in the US? The Census Bureau's 2023 population estimates cover 3,144 counties and county equivalents in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The 2020 Census count was 3,143; the difference is Connecticut, where the Census Bureau began using 9 planning regions in place of the state's 8 historic counties in 2022.

"County equivalents" are the places that fill a county's role without the name: Louisiana's parishes, Alaska's boroughs and census areas, the independent cities of Virginia, Maryland, Missouri and Nevada, and the District of Columbia. Puerto Rico's 78 municipios are also county equivalents but are not counted here.

States with the most counties

1. Texas: 254
2. Georgia: 159
3. Virginia: 133 (95 counties + 38 independent cities)
4. Kentucky: 120
5. Missouri: 115 (114 counties + St. Louis city)
6. Kansas: 105
7. Illinois: 102
8. North Carolina: 100
9. Iowa: 99
10. Tennessee: 95

Texas's 254 counties are the most by a wide margin. Georgia is second even though it is much smaller in area.

States with the fewest counties

• Delaware: 3
• Hawaii: 5
• Rhode Island: 5
• Connecticut: 9 (planning regions; 8 historic counties)
• New Hampshire: 10
• Massachusetts: 14
• Vermont: 14
• Arizona: 15

Every state's count

Why the number matters for a property search

• Each one keeps its own records. Deeds, plats and tax maps are filed county by county (or parish, borough or independent city), so the first step in any land search is knowing which one the parcel is in.
• Parcel maps are local too. There is no single national parcel map; each county equivalent, or in some states the state, publishes its own. Platbookmapper links to the official one for each.
• Counts change slowly. New county equivalents are rare, but they happen: Connecticut's switch in 2022 and the 2019 split of Alaska's Valdez-Cordova Census Area are recent examples.

Related guides

• Largest counties in the US by land area
• Most populous counties in the US
• Largest county in each state
• Smallest county in each state
• Smallest counties in the US
• Least populated counties in the US
• Most densely populated counties in the US

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer files, 2020 county land and water area (50 states and the District of Columbia; Puerto Rico's municipios are left out).
• U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, county totals, Vintage 2023 (July 1, 2023 estimates)
• Platbookmapper county GIS directory (live data file behind our county pages, pulled October 22, 2026) for each official parcel viewer.