In 45 of the 50 states of the United States, the county is used for the level of local government immediately below the state itself. Louisiana uses parishes, and Alaska uses boroughs. In Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, some or all counties within states have no governments of their own; the counties continue to exist as legal entities, however, and are used by states for some administrative functions and by the United States Census bureau for statistical analysis. There are 3,242 counties and county equivalent administrative units in total, including the District of Columbia and 100 county-equivalents in the U.S. territories.

There are 41 independent cities in the United States. In Virginia, any municipality that is incorporated as a city legally becomes independent of any county. Where indicated, the statistics below do not include Virginia's 38 independent cities.

In Alaska, most of the land area of the state has no county-level government. Those parts of the state are divided by the United States Census Bureau into census areas, which are not the same as boroughs. The state's largest statistical division by area is the Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, which is larger than any of the state's boroughs. Although Anchorage is called a municipality, it is considered a consolidated city and borough.

There are 100 county-equivalents in the territories of the United States: they are the 3 districts and 2 atolls of American Samoa, all of Guam (Guam as one single county-equivalent), the 4 municipalities in the Northern Mariana Islands, the 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico, the 3 main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the 9 islands in the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands.https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/codes/cou.html ‘’2010 FIPS Codes for Counties and County Equivalent Entities.’’ Census.gov. Retrieved June 2019.https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch4GARM.pdf ‘’States, Counties, and Statistically Equivalent Entities (Chapter 4).’’ Census.gov. Retrieved July 6, 2018.https://web.archive.org/web/20151018122108/http://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ansi_statetables.html FIPS State Codes for the Outlying Areas of the United States and the Freely Associated States. [info about USMOI] (archived). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 2019. All of these territorial county-equivalents are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Count This is the number of counties and county-equivalents for each state, the District of Columbia, the 5 inhabited territories of the United States, and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands.

Lists of counties and county equivalents by number per political division: Count State, federal district or territory Notes 254 Texas The most counties of any U.S. state 159 Georgia 133 Virginia 95 counties and 38 independent cities 120 Kentucky 115 Missouri 114 counties and 1 independent city 105 Kansas 102 Illinois 100 North Carolina 99 Iowa 95 Tennessee 93 Nebraska 92 Indiana 88 Ohio 87 Minnesota 83 Michigan 82 Mississippi 78 Puerto Rico Puerto Rico has no counties. The 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau 77 Oklahoma 75 Arkansas 72 Wisconsin 67 Alabama 67 Florida 67 Pennsylvania 66 South Dakota 64 Colorado 64 Louisiana Louisiana has no counties. The 64 parishes of Louisiana are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau 62 New York New York City is a sui generis jurisdiction, in which the city government consists of 5 boroughs each coterminous with a county of the State of New York 58 California 56 Montana 55 West Virginia 53 North Dakota 46 South Carolina 44 Idaho 39 Washington 36 Oregon 33 New Mexico 30 Alaska Alaska has no counties. The following areas in Alaska are counted as county-equivalents: the 19 organized boroughs and, in its Unorganized Borough, 11 designated census areas 29 Utah 24 Maryland 23 counties and 1 independent city 23 Wyoming 21 New Jersey 17 Nevada 16 counties and 1 independent city 16 Maine 15 Arizona 14 Massachusetts 8 of the 14 counties in Massachusetts were disincorporated in the 1990s and early 2000s; local government in these areas consists of cities and towns. Only one of the remaining 6 counties is a consolidated town-county 14 Vermont 10 New Hampshire 9 U.S. Minor Outlying Islands The U.S. Minor Outlying Islands does not have counties. The 9 islands in the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau 9 Connecticut The U.S. Census Bureau uses Connecticut's nine planning regions instead of its eight historic counties for statistical purposes. 5 American Samoa The 3 districts and 2 unorganized atolls of American Samoa are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau. American Samoa locally has 14 "counties", but these "counties" are not counted as counties by the U.S. Census Bureau (they are treated as "minor civil divisions") 5 Hawaii 5 Rhode Island Counties in Rhode Island have no governmental functions; local government is provided by eight cities and thirty-one towns 4 Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands has no counties. The 4 municipalities of the Northern Mariana Islands are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau 3 Delaware The fewest counties of any U.S. state 3 Virgin Islands (U.S.) The U.S. Virgin Islands has no counties. The 3 main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands are counted as county-equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau 1 District of Columbia The District of Columbia has no counties; the District of Columbia is considered both a state-equivalent and a county equivalent for statistical purposes 1 Guam Guam has no counties; Guam is considered both a state-equivalent and a county-equivalent for statistical purposes by the U.S. Census Bureau (similar to the District of Columbia)

Total (50 states and District of Columbia): 3,143 (3,007 counties and 136 county equivalents) Total (50 states, District of Columbia and territories): 3,244 (3,007 counties and 236 county equivalents) Average number of counties per state (not including D.C. and the territories): 62.84 Average number of counties per state (including D.C. and the territories): 56.8947368421

Population

Nationwide population extremes

These rankings include county equivalents.

+ Largest population counties nationwide(2025 Census estimate) Rank County Population 1 Los Angeles County, California 9,694,934 2 Cook County, Illinois 5,194,625 3 Harris County, Texas 5,045,026 4 Maricopa County, Arizona 4,689,558 5 San Diego County, California 3,282,248 6 Orange County, California 3,149,507 7 Miami-Dade County, Florida 2,802,029 8 Dallas County, Texas 2,661,397 9 Kings County, New York 2,653,963 10 Riverside County, California 2,544,916 11 Clark County, Nevada 2,407,226 12 Queens County, New York 2,358,182 13 King County, Washington 2,344,939 14 Tarrant County, Texas 2,248,466 15 San Bernardino County, California 2,224,091 16 Bexar County, Texas 2,160,088 17 Broward County, Florida 2,013,317 18 Santa Clara County, California 1,914,391 19 Wayne County, Michigan 1,769,038 20 New York County, New York 1,664,862+ Smallest population counties nationwide(2025 Census estimate) Rank County Population 1 Loving County, Texas 52 2 Kalawao County, Hawaii 82 3 King County, Texas 192 4 Kenedy County, Texas 319 5 McPherson County, Nebraska 369 6 Arthur County, Nebraska 396 7 Blaine County, Nebraska 458 8 McMullen County, Texas 544 9 Petroleum County, Montana 548 10 Grant County, Nebraska 561 11 Borden County, Texas 567 12 Loup County, Nebraska 570 13 Harding County, New Mexico 617 14 Slope County, North Dakota 628 15 Thomas County, Nebraska 639 16 Logan County, Nebraska 669 17 City and Borough of Yakutat, Alaska 672 18 Kent County, Texas 674 19 Banner County, Nebraska 686 20 Hooker County, Nebraska 686

The following is a list of the least populous counties and county-equivalents in all U.S. territory. The first 9 counties (county-equivalents) are uninhabited, while the 10th on the list (Palmyra Atoll) has a small non-permanent human population whose maximum capacity is 20 people.CIA World Factbook — Palmyra Atoll. Retrieved June 2019.

+ Smallest population counties in all U.S. territory(2020 Census) Rank County Population 1 Baker Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 0 2 Howland Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 0 3 Jarvis Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 0 4 Johnston Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 0 5 Kingman Reef, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 0 6 Navassa Island, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 0 7 Northern Islands Municipality, Northern Mariana Islands 0 8 Rose Atoll, American Samoa 0 9 Swains Island, American Samoa 0 10 Palmyra Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 20

Population per state or territory

+ Most and least populous counties per state/territory (2021 Census estimate) State, federal district, or territory Least populous Population Most populous Population Greene 7,629 Jefferson 667,820 Yakutat 704 Anchorage 288,121 Rose Atoll 0 Western District 31,819 Greenlee 9,404 Maricopa 4,496,588 Calhoun 4,741 Pulaski 397,821 Alpine 1,235 Los Angeles 9,829,544 San Juan 733 El Paso 737,867 Windham 116,418 Fairfield 959,768 Kent 184,149 New Castle 571,708 District of Columbia 670,050 District of Columbia 670,050 Liberty 7,900 Miami-Dade 2,662,777 Georgia Taliaferro 1,558 Fulton 1,065,334 Guam 153,835 Guam 153,835 Kalawao 82 Honolulu 1,000,890 Clark 792 Ada 511,931 Hardin 3,650 Cook 5,173,146 Ohio 5,978 Marion 971,102 Adams 3,641 Polk 496,844 Greeley 1,304 Johnson 613,219 Robertson 2,257 Jefferson 777,874 Tensas 4,043 East Baton Rouge 453,301 Piscataquis 17,165 Cumberland 305,231 Kent 19,270 Montgomery 1,054,827 Nantucket 14,491 Middlesex 1,614,742 Keweenaw 2,107 Wayne 1,774,816 Traverse 3,286 Hennepin 1,267,416 Issaquena 1,280 Hinds 222,679 Worth 1,983 St. Louis 997,187 Petroleum 519 Yellowstone 167,146 McPherson 379 Douglas 585,008 Esmeralda 743 Clark 2,292,476 Coos 31,268 Hillsborough 422,937 Salem 65,046 Bergen 953,819 Harding 639 Bernalillo 674,393 Hamilton 5,119 Kings 2,641,052 Tyrrell 3,254 Wake 1,150,204 Slope 690 Cass 186,562 Northern Islands Municipality 7 Saipan Municipality 43,385 Vinton 12,696 Franklin 1,321,414 Cimarron 2,248 Oklahoma 798,575 Wheeler 1,451 Multnomah 803,377 Cameron 4,459 Philadelphia 1,576,251 Culebra Municipality 1,792 San Juan Municipality 342,259 Bristol 50,818 Providence 658,221 Allendale 7,858 Greenville 533,834 Jones 879 Minnehaha 199,685 Pickett 5,079 Shelby 924,454 Loving 57 Harris 4,728,030 U.S. Minor Outlying Islands* 6 entities 0 Wake Island 100 Daggett 976 Salt Lake 1,186,421 Essex 5,925 Chittenden 168,865 Virgin Islands (U.S.) Saint John Island 3,881 Saint Thomas Island 42,261 Highland 2,226 Fairfax 1,139,720 Garfield 2,286 King 2,269,675 Wirt 5,063 Kanawha 177,952 Menominee 4,289 Milwaukee 928,059 Niobrara 2,438 Laramie 100,863

Area Nationwide land area extremes

The largest counties and county-equivalents are organized boroughs and the census areas of Alaska with the top two being Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area () and North Slope Borough (). The smallest counties and county equivalents (in the 50 states) are the independent cities of Virginia with the extreme being Falls Church at . If the U.S. territories are included, the smallest county-equivalent is Kingman Reef, with a land area of .https://www.britannica.com/place/Kingman-Reef ‘’Kingman Reef.’’ Britannica.com. Retrieved July 7, 2018.

The following two tables exclude county-equivalents: