County facts · Land area · October 21, 2026

Largest Counties in Mississippi by Area and Population

The largest Mississippi 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 Mississippi? Mississippi has 82 counties covering about 46,924 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is Yazoo County, at about 922 square miles, roughly 2.3 times the size of the smallest, Alcorn County (400 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Hinds County, with about 214,870 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.

Mississippi counties at a glance

• Counties: 82
• Land area: about 46,924 sq mi, plus about 1,512 sq mi of water inside county lines
• Residents, 2023 estimates: about 2,939,690, or about 63 people per square mile of land
• Median county land area: about 567 sq mi
• With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 82 of 82 (18 of them through a statewide viewer)

The 10 largest Mississippi counties by land area

Together these 10 cover about 17% of Mississippi's land area and hold about 20% of its residents.

The 10 most populous Mississippi counties

These 10 hold about 45% of Mississippi's residents in the 2023 estimates.

The 5 smallest Mississippi counties by land area

Most and least crowded

• Most people per square mile: DeSoto County, about 406 (then Harrison County, 367, and Hinds County, 247)
• Fewest people per square mile: Issaquena County, about 3.0 (then Sharkey County, 7.7, and Kemper 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.

• Harrison County: about 411 sq mi of water, 42% of its total area
• Jackson County: about 321 sq mi of water, 31% of its total area
• Hancock County: about 79 sq mi of water, 14% 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

• Mississippi county GIS websites by viewer
• Mississippi landowner maps for hunting
• County map of Mississippi
• Alabama–Mississippi border counties
• Louisiana–Mississippi border counties

More: All Mississippi 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.