Randolph County area

Randolph County, Arkansas covers 655.9 square miles: 651.9 square miles of land and 4.004 square miles of water. Its county seat is Pocahontas. An estimated 18,876 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 051212026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area651.9 mi²
Water area4.004 mi²
Population (2025)18,876
People per mi²29

County outline

Generalized outline of Randolph County, Arkansas
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 Randolph County is located

Randolph County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.4% of Randolph County’s measured area and water for 0.6%. Its combined area converts to 1,698.8 square kilometers or approximately 419,787 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land651.9131,688.447417,224.3
Water4.00410.372,562.6
Total655.9171,698.817419,786.9

How Randolph County compares

By original Census land area, Randolph County ranks #35 of 75 in Arkansas and #1446 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.007 times the Arkansas county-equivalent median of 647.2 square miles. It accounts for 1.3% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Randolph County

The Census Bureau estimates that 18,876 people lived in Randolph County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #1,947 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #36 of 75 in Arkansas. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 18,573, the population has grown by 303 (+1.6%), compared with +3.4% for Arkansas as a whole.

With 651.9 square miles of land, that is 29 people per square mile (11 per km²), placing Randolph County #2,034 nationally for density and #35 in Arkansas. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Arkansas median is 28. Put another way, there are about 22 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate18,59318,79018,81118,86918,94418,876
Change—+197+21+58+75−68

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Randolph County

6 incorporated places lie at least partly in Randolph County. Together they are home to 9,010 people (47.7%); the other 9,866 (52.3%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Pocahontas city, with 7,622 residents in the county.

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Pocahontas cityCounty seat7,622+3.1%7.695
Reyno city3910%1.01
Maynard town370−0.5%1.262
Biggers town3130%1.002
O'Kean town193+0.5%1.02
Ravenden Springs town121−0.8%1.165

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each place inside Randolph County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer, for the whole place even where it extends into other counties. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Randolph County is not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area in the Office of Management and Budget’s July 2023 delineation; 1,306 other county equivalents are also outside one. These areas are built around an urban core of at least 10,000 people plus the counties tied to it by commuting, so counties outside them are generally rural.

ZIP codes

11 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Randolph County; 8 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

7241372425724347244472449724557245972460724627247672478

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Randolph County

Randolph County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents, including 2 in Missouri. It has more land than 5 of them. The largest neighbor is Oregon County (789.8 mi²) and the smallest is Greene County (577.4 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Randolph County forms a block of 4,480 mi² of land, of which it holds 14.6%.

Map of Randolph County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Lawrence County, Arkansas: 587.5 mi² landSharp County, Arkansas: 604.6 mi² landRipley County, Missouri: 629.5 mi² landClay County, Arkansas: 639.2 mi² landOregon County, Missouri: 789.8 mi² landGreene County, Arkansas: 577.4 mi² land
Randolph County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. RandolphCompare
Oregon CountyMissouri789.81.2× largerCompare
Clay County639.2about the sameCompare
Ripley CountyMissouri629.5about the sameCompare
Sharp County604.61.1× smallerCompare
Lawrence County587.51.1× smallerCompare
Greene County577.41.1× smallerCompare

How big is Randolph County compared with U.S. states?

Randolph County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.6 times as much. Arkansas’s county land could hold about 80 areas the size of Randolph County.

Land area: Randolph County and the closest-sized states
Randolph County651.9 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 25.5 miles (41.1 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Randolph County?

Randolph County has more land than 1,776 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Randolph County651.9 mi²
Arkansas median647.2 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 Randolph County at #1,556 nationally by total area, 110 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 0.6%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.6 percentage points lower. 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 Randolph County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1445Pitt County, North Carolina652.4Compare
#1446Randolph County, Arkansas651.9This county
#1447Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana651.5Compare

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 36.341298, -91.028441. 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: 1,688,445,986 m²; AWATER: 10,370,822 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 big is Randolph County?

Randolph County, Arkansas has 651.9 square miles (1,688.4 km²) of land and 4.004 square miles of water, for a total area of 655.9 square miles. It ranks #1446 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Randolph County the largest county in Arkansas?

No. Randolph County ranks #35 of 75 in Arkansas by land area. The largest is Union County, with 1,039.1 square miles of land.

What counties border Randolph County?

Randolph County shares a land border with Lawrence County, Sharp County, Ripley County, Missouri, Clay County, Oregon County, Missouri, and Greene County.

What is the population of Randolph County?

The Census Bureau estimates Randolph County had 18,876 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #1,947 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 29 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Randolph County?

The county seat of Randolph County is Pocahontas.

What cities and towns are in Randolph County?

Randolph County has 6 incorporated places. The most populous five are Pocahontas city, Reyno city, Maynard town, Biggers town, and O'Kean town; 9,866 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Randolph County part of a metropolitan area?

No. Randolph County is outside every metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area in the July 2023 OMB delineation.

How many ZIP codes are in Randolph County?

11 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Randolph County, and 8 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Randolph County compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.6 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Randolph County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 417,224 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 419,787 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

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