Prowers County area

Prowers County, Colorado covers 1,644.3 square miles: 1,638.4 square miles of land and 5.915 square miles of water. Its county seat is Lamar. An estimated 11,884 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 080992026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area1,638.4 mi²
Water area5.915 mi²
Population (2025)11,884
People per mi²7.3

County outline

Generalized outline of Prowers County, Colorado
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 Prowers County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.6% of Prowers County’s measured area and water for 0.4%. Its combined area converts to 4,258.8 square kilometers or approximately 1,052,366 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land1,638.4074,243.4551,048,580.5
Water5.91515.323,785.6
Total1,644.3224,258.7741,052,366.1

How Prowers County compares

By original Census land area, Prowers County ranks #28 of 64 in Colorado and #369 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.145 times the Colorado county-equivalent median of 1,431.5 square miles. It accounts for 1.6% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Prowers County

The Census Bureau estimates that 11,884 people lived in Prowers County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,358 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #36 of 64 in Colorado. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 11,997, the population has declined by 113 (−0.9%), compared with +4.1% for Colorado as a whole.

With 1,638.4 square miles of land, that is 7.3 people per square mile (2.8 per km²), placing Prowers County #2,753 nationally for density and #39 in Colorado. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Colorado median is 11. Put another way, there are about 88 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate12,01211,93911,82811,76611,90411,884
Change—−73−111−62+138−20

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 Prowers County

5 incorporated places lie at least partly in Prowers County. Together they are home to 9,375 people (78.9%); the other 2,509 (21.1%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Lamar city, with 7,588 residents in the county.

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Lamar cityCounty seat7,588−1.3%5.219
Holly town836−1.2%0.73
Granada town463+3.8%0.685
Wiley town433−1.4%0.366
Hartman town55−1.8%0.274

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

Metropolitan area

Prowers 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

6 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Prowers County; 4 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

810418104381047810528108481092

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 Prowers County

Prowers County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents, including 3 in Kansas. It has more land than 4 of them. The largest neighbor is Baca County (2,555 mi²) and the smallest is Stanton County (680.4 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Prowers County forms a block of 9,929.3 mi² of land, of which it holds 16.5%.

Map of Prowers County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Bent County, Colorado: 1,512.8 mi² landBaca County, Colorado: 2,555 mi² landKiowa County, Colorado: 1,767.8 mi² landHamilton County, Kansas: 996.5 mi² landStanton County, Kansas: 680.4 mi² landGreeley County, Kansas: 778.4 mi² land
Prowers 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. ProwersCompare
Baca County2,5551.6× largerCompare
Kiowa County1,767.81.1× largerCompare
Bent County1,512.81.1× smallerCompare
Hamilton CountyKansas996.51.6× smallerCompare
Greeley CountyKansas778.42.1× smallerCompare
Stanton CountyKansas680.42.4× smallerCompare

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

Prowers County has more land than 1 of the 50 states. It is about 1.6 times the land area of Rhode Island (1,033.9 mi²), while Delaware, the next larger state, has 1.2 times as much land (1,948.6 mi²). Colorado’s county land could hold about 63 areas the size of Prowers County.

Land area: Prowers County and the closest-sized states
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²
Prowers County1,638.4 mi²
Delaware1,948.6 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 40.5 miles (65.1 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 Prowers County?

Prowers County has more land than 2,853 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Prowers County1,638.4 mi²
Colorado median1,431.5 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 Prowers County at #408 nationally by total area, 39 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 0.4%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.8 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 Prowers County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#368Josephine County, Oregon1,638.6Compare
#369Prowers County, Colorado1,638.4This county
#370Butte County, California1,636.5Compare

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 37.958524, -102.392312. 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: 4,243,454,853 m²; AWATER: 15,319,853 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 Prowers County?

Prowers County, Colorado has 1,638.4 square miles (4,243.5 km²) of land and 5.915 square miles of water, for a total area of 1,644.3 square miles. It ranks #369 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Prowers County the largest county in Colorado?

No. Prowers County ranks #28 of 64 in Colorado by land area. The largest is Las Animas County, with 4,772.9 square miles of land.

What counties border Prowers County?

Prowers County shares a land border with Bent County, Baca County, Kiowa County, Hamilton County, Kansas, Stanton County, Kansas, and Greeley County, Kansas.

What is the population of Prowers County?

The Census Bureau estimates Prowers County had 11,884 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,358 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 7.3 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Prowers County?

The county seat of Prowers County is Lamar.

What cities and towns are in Prowers County?

Prowers County has 5 incorporated places. The most populous are Lamar city, Holly town, Granada town, Wiley town, and Hartman town; 2,509 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Prowers County part of a metropolitan area?

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

How many ZIP codes are in Prowers County?

6 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Prowers County, and 4 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

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

It has more land than 1 of the 50 states, including Rhode Island (1,033.9 square miles of land).

How many acres of land are in Prowers County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 1,048,580 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 1,052,366 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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