County facts · Land area · October 21, 2026
Largest Counties in Arkansas by Area and Population
The largest Arkansas 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 Arkansas? Arkansas has 75 counties covering about 51,993 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is Union County, at about 1,039 square miles, roughly 2.0 times the size of the smallest, Lafayette County (529 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Pulaski County, with about 400,009 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.
Arkansas counties at a glance
- Counties: 75
- Land area: about 51,993 sq mi, plus about 1,205 sq mi of water inside county lines
- Residents, 2023 estimates: about 3,067,732, or about 59 people per square mile of land
- Median county land area: about 647 sq mi
- With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 75 of 75
The 10 largest Arkansas counties by land area
| # | County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | People per sq mi | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Union County | El Dorado | 1,039 | 37,397 | 36 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 2 | White County | Searcy | 1,034 | 78,452 | 76 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 3 | Arkansas County | DeWitt, Stuttgart | 992 | 16,307 | 16 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 4 | Washington County | Fayetteville | 941 | 261,549 | 278 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 5 | Yell County | Danville, Dardanelle | 930 | 20,044 | 22 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 6 | Ashley County | Hamburg | 925 | 18,262 | 20 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 7 | Mississippi County | Blytheville, Osceola | 902 | 38,663 | 43 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 8 | Scott County | Waldron | 893 | 9,851 | 11 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 9 | Jefferson County | Pine Bluff | 872 | 63,661 | 73 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 10 | Clark County | Arkadelphia | 866 | 21,274 | 25 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
Together these 10 cover about 18% of Arkansas's land area and hold about 18% of its residents.
The 10 most populous Arkansas counties
| # | County | Seat | 2023 pop. | Land (sq mi) | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pulaski County | Little Rock | 400,009 | 758 | county web map |
| 2 | Benton County | Bentonville | 311,013 | 848 | county web map |
| 3 | Washington County | Fayetteville | 261,549 | 941 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 4 | Faulkner County | Conway | 129,951 | 647 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 5 | Saline County | Benton | 129,574 | 724 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 6 | Sebastian County | Fort Smith, Greenwood | 129,098 | 531 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 7 | Craighead County | Jonesboro, Lake City | 113,993 | 707 | county web map |
| 8 | Garland County | Hot Springs | 99,784 | 678 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 9 | White County | Searcy | 78,452 | 1,034 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 10 | Lonoke County | Lonoke | 75,944 | 771 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
These 10 hold about 56% of Arkansas's residents in the 2023 estimates.
The 5 smallest Arkansas counties by land area
| County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette County | Lewisville | 529 | 6,095 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| Sebastian County | Fort Smith, Greenwood | 531 | 129,098 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| Little River County | Ashdown | 531 | 11,805 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| Perry County | Perryville | 551 | 10,184 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| Conway County | Morrilton | 552 | 21,077 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
Most and least crowded
- Most people per square mile: Pulaski County, about 528 (then Benton County, 367, and Washington County, 278)
- Fewest people per square mile: Calhoun County, about 7.4 (then Newton County, 8.6, and Dallas County, 9.3)
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.
- Desha County: about 71 sq mi of water, 9% of its total area
- Garland County: about 57 sq mi of water, 8% of its total area
- Chicot County: about 54 sq mi of water, 8% 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
- Arkansas county GIS websites by viewer
- Arkansas landowner maps for hunting
- Arkansas–Louisiana border counties
- Arkansas–Missouri border counties
- Arkansas–Oklahoma border counties
More: All Arkansas 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.