AK · GEOID 02180

Nome Census Area area

Nome Census Area, Alaska covers 28,290.2 square miles: 22,969.9 square miles of land and 5,320.3 square miles of water.

Official Census measurements2026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area22,969.9 mi²
Water area5,320.3 mi²
Total area28,290.2 mi²
National land rank#9

County outline

Generalized outline of Nome Census Area, Alaska
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Nome Census Area is located

Nome Census Area highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. Alaska is shown at 35% of the common scale. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 81.2% of Nome Census Area’s measured area and water for 18.8%. Its combined area converts to 73,271.4 square kilometers or approximately 18,105,756 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land22,969.93159,491.84814,700,755.8
Water5,320.31313,779.5473,405,000.3
Total28,290.24473,271.39618,105,756.2

How Nome Census Area compares

By original Census land area, Nome Census Area ranks #9 of 30 in Alaska and #9 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 3.068 times the Alaska county-equivalent median of 7,486.4 square miles. It accounts for 4% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Alaska ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

What stands out about Nome Census Area?

Nome Census Area has more land than 3,213 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Nome Census Area22,969.9 mi²
Alaska median7,486.4 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Nome Census Area at #6 nationally by total area, 3 places closer to the top than its land rank. The water assigned to this geography moves it ahead of some county equivalents with more land.

Its water share is 18.8%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 17.6 percentage points higher. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Nome Census Area in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#8Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska23,896.5Compare
#9Nome Census Area, Alaska22,969.9This county
#10San Bernardino County, California20,068.4Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 64.783686, -164.188912. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 59,491,846,005 m²; AWATER: 13,779,546,790 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How many acres of land are in Nome Census Area?

The land measurement converts to approximately 14,700,756 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 18,105,756 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

Download the complete CSV or JSON dataset