County ranking

Smallest counties in the US by land area

The 50 smallest county-equivalents by land area.

Short answer

Falls Church city, VA ranks first with 2.05 square miles of land, followed by Lexington city, VA (2.50) and Manassas Park city, VA (3.03). The list ranks all 3,144 county-equivalents and shows the top 50.
#1 Falls Church city, VA
2.05
  1. 01Falls Church city, VA2.05
  2. 02Lexington city, VA2.50
  3. 03Manassas Park city, VA3.03
  4. 04Covington city, VA5.47
  5. 05Fairfax city, VA6.24
  6. 06Buena Vista city, VA6.44
  7. 07Emporia city, VA6.63
  8. 08Norton city, VA7.48
  9. 09Colonial Heights city, VA7.52
  10. 10Galax city, VA8.24
  11. 11Franklin city, VA8.28
  12. 12Williamsburg city, VA8.94
  13. 13Winchester city, VA9.19
  14. 14Radford city, VA9.68
  15. 15Manassas city, VA9.84
  16. 16Charlottesville city, VA10.25
  17. 17Hopewell city, VA10.35
  18. 18Fredericksburg city, VA10.45
  19. 19Martinsville city, VA10.96
  20. 20Kalawao County, HI11.99
  21. 21Bristol city, VA12.87
  22. 22Salem city, VA14.52
  23. 23Alexandria city, VA14.94
  24. 24Waynesboro city, VA14.97
  25. 25Poquoson city, VA15.36
  26. 26Harrisonburg city, VA17.34
  27. 27Staunton city, VA19.92
  28. 28New York County, NY22.66
  29. 29Petersburg city, VA22.72
  30. 30Bristol County, RI24.13
  31. 31Arlington County, VA26.00
  32. 32Broomfield County, CO32.97
  33. 33Portsmouth city, VA33.30
  34. 34Bronx County, NY42.18
  35. 35Roanoke city, VA42.52
  36. 36Danville city, VA42.80
  37. 37Hudson County, NJ46.19
  38. 38Nantucket County, MA46.19
  39. 39San Francisco County, CA46.69
  40. 40Lynchburg city, VA48.92
  41. 41Hampton city, VA51.46
  42. 42Norfolk city, VA53.28
  43. 43Richmond County, NY57.52
  44. 44Suffolk County, MA58.26
  45. 45Richmond city, VA59.93
  46. 46District of Columbia, DC61.13
  47. 47St. Louis city, MO61.72
  48. 48Newport News city, VA69.00
  49. 49Kings County, NY69.38
  50. 50Baltimore city, MD80.95
Land sq mi. 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.

Independent cities fill the list

37 of the 50 smallest are independent cities, most in Virginia, which Census treats as county-equivalents. Their codes are 500 and above. Excluding them and DC, the smallest county is Kalawao County, HI, at 11.99 square miles.

  1. 1Kalawao County, HI11.99 sq mi
  2. 2New York County, NY22.66 sq mi
  3. 3Bristol County, RI24.13 sq mi
  4. 4Arlington County, VA26.00 sq mi
  5. 5Broomfield County, CO32.97 sq mi
  6. 6Bronx County, NY42.18 sq mi
  7. 7Hudson County, NJ46.19 sq mi
  8. 8Nantucket County, MA46.19 sq mi
  9. 9San Francisco County, CA46.69 sq mi
  10. 10Richmond County, NY57.52 sq mi

How this ranking is built

Every county-equivalent in the 50 states and DC is sorted by its 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?

Falls Church city, VA, with 2.05 square miles of land.

Which data does this use?

Census 2024 Gazetteer land area, which excludes water.

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. "Smallest counties in the US by land area." Published 2026-09-30. https://onlinemaptools.com/rankings/smallest-counties-by-area. 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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