County facts · Land area · October 22, 2026

Largest Counties in Rhode Island by Area and Population

The largest Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island? Rhode Island has 5 counties covering about 1,034 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is Providence County, at about 409 square miles, roughly 17 times the size of the smallest, Bristol County (24 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Providence County, with about 660,615 residents in the Census Bureau's July 1, 2023 estimate, so it is the largest both ways.

Rhode Island's five counties have no county government. Deeds and other land records are kept by the state's 39 cities and towns, so the Seat column shows a dash and the parcel viewer links go to the maps our directory lists for each county area.

The tables below rank the counties both ways. Each row links to the county's Platbookmapper page and straight to its official parcel viewer.

Rhode Island counties at a glance

• Counties: 5
• Land area: about 1,034 sq mi, plus about 511 sq mi of water inside county lines
• Residents, 2023 estimates: about 1,095,962, or about 1,060 people per square mile of land
• Median county land area: about 169 sq mi
• With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 5 of 5 (5 of them through a statewide viewer)

Every county in Rhode Island points to the same statewide viewer in our directory, the RIGIS statewide Tax Parcels layer in ArcGIS Map Viewer, so one search box covers the whole state and the parcel pop-ups look the same on both sides of a county line.

All 5 Rhode Island counties ranked by land area

All 5 ranked by population

1. Providence County: about 660,615 residents (60% of the state)
2. Kent County: about 171,278 residents (16% of the state)
3. Washington County: about 129,982 residents (12% of the state)
4. Newport County: about 83,832 residents (8% of the state)
5. Bristol County: about 50,255 residents (5% of the state)

Counties with the most water

The Census Bureau reports water separately from land. It counts lakes, reservoirs, rivers and, along a coast or a Great Lake, the water inside the boundary.

• Washington County: about 234 sq mi of water, 41% of its total area
• Newport County: about 211 sq mi of water, 67% of its total area
• Providence County: about 26 sq mi of water, 6% 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 town line. In Rhode Island, deeds are recorded by the city or town where the land sits, so check the town, not the county, for the record.
• Rounded figures. Land and water areas are rounded to whole square miles (one decimal for very small places). People per square mile is the 2023 estimate divided by land area.

Related guides

• Largest county in each state
• Largest counties in the US by land area

More: All Rhode Island 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 22, 2026) for each official parcel viewer.