County facts · Land area · October 21, 2026
Largest Counties in Alabama by Area and Population
The largest Alabama counties by land area and by 2023 population, plus the smallest, county seats and a link to each official parcel map.
Looking for the largest counties in Alabama? Alabama has 67 counties covering about 50,647 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is Baldwin County, at about 1,590 square miles, roughly 3.0 times the size of the smallest, Etowah County (535 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Jefferson County, with about 662,895 residents in the Census Bureau's July 1, 2023 estimate.
The tables below rank the counties both ways. Each row links to the county's Platbookmapper page and straight to its official parcel viewer.
Alabama counties at a glance
- Counties: 67
- Land area: about 50,647 sq mi, plus about 1,773 sq mi of water inside county lines
- Residents, 2023 estimates: about 5,108,468, or about 101 people per square mile of land
- Median county land area: about 672 sq mi
- With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 67 of 67
The 10 largest Alabama counties by land area
| # | County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | People per sq mi | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baldwin County | Bay Minette | 1,590 | 253,507 | 159 | KCS GIS |
| 2 | Tuscaloosa County | Tuscaloosa | 1,321 | 237,373 | 180 | FlagshipGIS |
| 3 | Clarke County | Grove Hill | 1,238 | 22,337 | 18 | FlagshipGIS |
| 4 | Mobile County | Mobile | 1,229 | 411,640 | 335 | appraisal district map |
| 5 | Jefferson County | Birmingham | 1,112 | 662,895 | 596 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 6 | Washington County | Chatom | 1,080 | 15,022 | 14 | FlagshipGIS |
| 7 | Jackson County | Scottsboro | 1,078 | 53,467 | 50 | KCS GIS |
| 8 | Covington County | Andalusia | 1,031 | 37,952 | 37 | FlagshipGIS |
| 9 | Monroe County | Monroeville | 1,026 | 19,229 | 19 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 10 | Dallas County | Selma | 979 | 36,165 | 37 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
Together these 10 cover about 23% of Alabama's land area and hold about 34% of its residents.
The 10 most populous Alabama counties
| # | County | Seat | 2023 pop. | Land (sq mi) | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jefferson County | Birmingham | 662,895 | 1,112 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 2 | Madison County | Huntsville | 412,600 | 802 | KCS GIS |
| 3 | Mobile County | Mobile | 411,640 | 1,229 | appraisal district map |
| 4 | Baldwin County | Bay Minette | 253,507 | 1,590 | KCS GIS |
| 5 | Tuscaloosa County | Tuscaloosa | 237,373 | 1,321 | FlagshipGIS |
| 6 | Shelby County | Columbiana | 233,000 | 785 | county web map |
| 7 | Montgomery County | Montgomery | 224,980 | 785 | KCS GIS |
| 8 | Lee County | Opelika | 183,215 | 608 | FlagshipGIS |
| 9 | Morgan County | Decatur | 125,133 | 580 | KCS GIS |
| 10 | Calhoun County | Anniston | 116,429 | 606 | county web map |
These 10 hold about 56% of Alabama's residents in the 2023 estimates.
The 5 smallest Alabama counties by land area
| County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etowah County | Gadsden | 535 | 103,241 | KCS GIS |
| Cherokee County | Centre | 554 | 25,666 | KCS GIS |
| Limestone County | Athens | 560 | 114,654 | KCS GIS |
| Cleburne County | Heflin | 560 | 15,639 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| Dale County | Ozark | 561 | 49,871 | FlagshipGIS |
Most and least crowded
- Most people per square mile: Jefferson County, about 596 (then Madison County, 515, and Mobile County, 335)
- Fewest people per square mile: Perry County, about 11 (then Wilcox County, 11, and Greene County, 11)
Counties with the most water
The Census Bureau reports water separately from land. It counts lakes, reservoirs, rivers and, for coastal and Great Lakes counties, the water inside the county boundary.
- Baldwin County: about 437 sq mi of water, 22% of its total area
- Mobile County: about 415 sq mi of water, 25% of its total area
- Marshall County: about 57 sq mi of water, 9% of its total area
Using these numbers in a land search
- Land area is not parcel count. A large rural county can hold fewer parcels than a small suburban one, so size alone says little about how busy its parcel map is.
- Search, don't scroll. In a big county, type an address, owner name or parcel number into the viewer's search box, where it has one, instead of panning across the map.
- Records follow the county line. Deeds, plats and tax bills are kept by the county where the parcel sits, so a tract that crosses a county line usually has a parcel number in each county.
- Rounded figures. Land and water areas are rounded to whole square miles. People per square mile is the 2023 estimate divided by land area.
Related guides
- Alabama county GIS websites by viewer
- Alabama plat maps
- Alabama landowner maps for hunting
- Alabama–Georgia border counties
- Alabama–Mississippi border counties
More: All Alabama counties on Platbookmapper
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer files, 2020 county land and water area.
- 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 21, 2026) for each county's official parcel viewer.
- County seats: Wikidata (county seat property), cross-checked against Census place names.