County facts · Land area · October 21, 2026
Largest Counties in Minnesota by Area and Population
The largest Minnesota 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 Minnesota? Minnesota has 87 counties covering about 79,627 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is St. Louis County, at about 6,248 square miles, roughly 41 times the size of the smallest, Ramsey County (152 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Hennepin County, with about 1,258,713 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.
Minnesota counties at a glance
- Counties: 87
- Land area: about 79,627 sq mi, plus about 7,317 sq mi of water inside county lines
- Residents, 2023 estimates: about 5,737,915, or about 72 people per square mile of land
- Median county land area: about 670 sq mi
- With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 83 of 87
The 10 largest Minnesota counties by land area
| # | County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | People per sq mi | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Louis County | Duluth | 6,248 | 200,514 | 32 | county web map |
| 2 | Koochiching County | International Falls | 3,105 | 11,751 | 3.8 | listed link under review |
| 3 | Itasca County | Grand Rapids | 2,668 | 45,365 | 17 | county web map |
| 4 | Beltrami County | Bemidji | 2,505 | 46,718 | 19 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 5 | Lake County | Two Harbors | 2,109 | 10,855 | 5.1 | listed link under review |
| 6 | Cass County | Walker | 2,021 | 31,446 | 16 | county web map |
| 7 | Otter Tail County | Fergus Falls | 1,972 | 60,626 | 31 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 8 | Polk County | Crookston | 1,971 | 30,412 | 15 | county web map |
| 9 | Aitkin County | Aitkin | 1,822 | 16,102 | 8.8 | county web map |
| 10 | Marshall County | Warren | 1,775 | 8,810 | 5.0 | county web map |
Together these 10 cover about 33% of Minnesota's land area and hold about 8% of its residents.
The 10 most populous Minnesota counties
| # | County | Seat | 2023 pop. | Land (sq mi) | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hennepin County | Minneapolis | 1,258,713 | 554 | county web map |
| 2 | Ramsey County | Saint Paul | 536,075 | 152 | county web map |
| 3 | Dakota County | Hastings | 447,440 | 563 | county web map |
| 4 | Anoka County | Anoka | 372,441 | 422 | county web map |
| 5 | Washington County | Stillwater | 278,936 | 385 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 6 | St. Louis County | Duluth | 200,514 | 6,248 | county web map |
| 7 | Olmsted County | Rochester | 164,784 | 654 | listed link under review |
| 8 | Stearns County | St. Cloud | 160,977 | 1,343 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 9 | Scott County | Shakopee | 155,814 | 356 | county web map |
| 10 | Wright County | Buffalo | 151,150 | 661 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
These 10 hold about 65% of Minnesota's residents in the 2023 estimates.
The 5 smallest Minnesota counties by land area
| County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsey County | Saint Paul | 152 | 536,075 | county web map |
| Carver County | Chaska | 354 | 111,057 | county web map |
| Scott County | Shakopee | 356 | 155,814 | county web map |
| Washington County | Stillwater | 385 | 278,936 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| Benton County | Foley | 408 | 41,600 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
Most and least crowded
- Most people per square mile: Ramsey County, about 3,521 (then Hennepin County, 2,272, and Anoka County, 883)
- Fewest people per square mile: Lake of the Woods County, about 2.9 (then Kittson County, 3.7, and Koochiching County, 3.8)
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.
- Cook County: about 1,887 sq mi of water, 57% of its total area
- Lake County: about 882 sq mi of water, 29% of its total area
- St. Louis County: about 613 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
- Minnesota county GIS websites by viewer
- Minnesota landowner maps for hunting
- Iowa–Minnesota border counties
- Minnesota–North Dakota border counties
- Minnesota–South Dakota border counties
- Minnesota–Wisconsin border counties
More: All Minnesota 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.