County facts · Land area · October 22, 2026

Largest Counties in Vermont by Area and Population

The largest Vermont 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 Vermont? Vermont has 14 counties covering about 9,217 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is Windsor County, at about 970 square miles, roughly 12 times the size of the smallest, Grand Isle County (82 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Chittenden County, with about 169,481 residents in the Census Bureau's July 1, 2023 estimate.

Each table below links the county's Platbookmapper page and its official parcel viewer, so you can go straight from the numbers to the property lines.

Vermont counties at a glance

• Counties: 14
• Land area: about 9,217 sq mi, plus about 398 sq mi of water inside county lines
• Residents, 2023 estimates: about 647,464, or about 70 people per square mile of land
• Median county land area: about 681 sq mi
• With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 14 of 14 (14 of them through a statewide viewer)

Every county in Vermont points to the same statewide viewer in our directory, the Vermont Parcel Viewer (VCGI), so one search box covers the whole state and the parcel pop-ups look the same on both sides of a county line.

The 10 largest Vermont counties by land area

Together these 10 cover about 81% of Vermont's land area and hold about 61% of its residents.

The 10 most populous Vermont counties

These 10 hold about 90% of Vermont's residents in the 2023 estimates.

The smallest Vermont counties

With only 14 counties, the bottom of the list is short. The three smallest by land area are Grand Isle County (about 82 sq mi, 7,467 residents), Lamoille County (about 462 sq mi, 26,060 residents) and Chittenden County (about 537 sq mi, 169,481 residents).

Most and least crowded

• Most people per square mile: Chittenden County, about 315 (then Grand Isle County, 91, and Washington County, 88)
• Fewest people per square mile: Essex County, about 9.1 (then Orleans County, 40, and Orange County, 44)

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.

• Grand Isle County: about 113 sq mi of water, 58% of its total area
• Chittenden County: about 83 sq mi of water, 13% of its total area
• Franklin County: about 58 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 on each side.
• 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

• Vermont landowner maps for hunting
• Largest county in each state
• Largest counties in the US by land area

More: All Vermont 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.
• County seats: Wikidata (county seat property), cross-checked against Census place names.