County ranking

Least densely populated counties in the US

The 50 sparsest counties, people per square mile of land.

Short answer

Yukon-Koyukuk, AK ranks first with 0.03 people per square mile, followed by Lake and Peninsula, AK (0.06) and Loving County, TX (0.07). The list ranks all 3,144 county-equivalents and shows the top 50.
#1 Yukon-Koyukuk, AK
0.03
  1. 01Yukon-Koyukuk, AK0.03
  2. 02Lake and Peninsula, AK0.06
  3. 03Loving County, TX0.07
  4. 04Yakutat, AK0.09
  5. 05Copper River, AK0.11
  6. 06North Slope, AK0.12
  7. 07Denali, AK0.13
  8. 08Northwest Arctic, AK0.20
  9. 09Esmeralda County, NV0.20
  10. 10Kenedy County, TX0.23
  11. 11King County, TX0.24
  12. 12Garfield County, MT0.25
  13. 13Dillingham, AK0.25
  14. 14Southeast Fairbanks, AK0.29
  15. 15Harding County, NM0.30
  16. 16Terrell County, TX0.30
  17. 17Petroleum County, MT0.32
  18. 18Hoonah-Angoon, AK0.35
  19. 19Lincoln County, NV0.41
  20. 20Carter County, MT0.42
  21. 21Nome, AK0.43
  22. 22McPherson County, NE0.44
  23. 23Bethel, AK0.45
  24. 24Eureka County, NV0.45
  25. 25Clark County, ID0.45
  26. 26Kusilvak, AK0.47
  27. 27McMullen County, TX0.50
  28. 28Harding County, SD0.50
  29. 29Aleutians East, AK0.52
  30. 30Powder River County, MT0.53
  31. 31Sioux County, NE0.53
  32. 32Slope County, ND0.54
  33. 33Catron County, NM0.55
  34. 34Culberson County, TX0.59
  35. 35Arthur County, NE0.59
  36. 36Borden County, TX0.62
  37. 37Blaine County, NE0.64
  38. 38Prairie County, MT0.64
  39. 39McCone County, MT0.65
  40. 40Edwards County, TX0.65
  41. 41Hinsdale County, CO0.67
  42. 42Chugach, AK0.69
  43. 43De Baca County, NM0.71
  44. 44Harney County, OR0.73
  45. 45Golden Valley County, MT0.73
  46. 46Grant County, NE0.74
  47. 47Treasure County, MT0.76
  48. 48Kent County, TX0.78
  49. 49Jeff Davis County, TX0.79
  50. 50Kiowa County, CO0.79
Per sq mi. Log scale. Rank 1 at the top.
GeorgiaIndianaMaineMinnesotaNorth DakotaColoradoAlaskaArkansasIllinoisIowaMississippiNew YorkTennesseeTexasVirginiaKansasAlabamaNorth CarolinaMichiganMissouriNebraskaOhioSouth CarolinaVermontWisconsinCaliforniaKentuckySouth DakotaNevadaFloridaMarylandPennsylvaniaArizonaRhode IslandIdahoOregonMontanaWashingtonWest VirginiaNew MexicoNew HampshireOklahomaUtahWyomingHawaiiLouisianaMassachusettsConnecticutNew JerseyDelawareDistrict of Columbia

Dots mark the location of each of the 50 rows listed.

Lots of land, few people

These 50 counties cover 16.3% of US land but hold 0.040% of its people, 135,770 residents on 575,573 square miles.

How this ranking is built

Every county-equivalent in the 50 states and DC is sorted by Vintage 2024 population divided by 2024 Gazetteer land area. Ties are broken by FIPS code. Each row links to the county page with its full profile and state rank.

Questions people ask

Which county ranks first?

Yukon-Koyukuk, AK, with 0.03 people per square mile.

Which data does this use?

Census Vintage 2024 population estimates and 2024 Gazetteer land area.

Are parishes and independent cities included?

Yes. All county-equivalents are ranked, including Louisiana parishes, Alaska boroughs and census areas, independent cities, Connecticut planning regions, and DC.

Suggested citation

Online Map Tools. "Least densely populated counties in the US." Published 2026-09-30. https://onlinemaptools.com/rankings/least-densely-populated-counties. Data: Census Vintage 2024 county population estimates; Census 2024 Gazetteer, counties.

Journalists, students and researchers may quote these figures and reuse the table. Please credit Online Map Tools and link to this page. The underlying government data is in the public domain.

Download the data (CSV)

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census Vintage 2024 population estimates, 2024 Gazetteer land area and internal points, SAIPE 2023 median household income.

  1. 01Census Vintage 2024 county population estimates
  2. 02Census 2024 Gazetteer, counties

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.

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