Fannin County area

Fannin County, Georgia covers 392.3 square miles: 387.2 square miles of land and 5.15 square miles of water. Its county seat is Blue Ridge. An estimated 26,111 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 131112026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area387.2 mi²
Water area5.15 mi²
Population (2025)26,111
People per mi²67

County outline

Generalized outline of Fannin County, Georgia
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 Fannin County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 98.7% of Fannin County’s measured area and water for 1.3%. Its combined area converts to 1,016.1 square kilometers or approximately 251,076 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land387.1571,002.732247,780.5
Water5.1513.3383,296
Total392.3071,016.07251,076.5

How Fannin County compares

By original Census land area, Fannin County ranks #63 of 159 in Georgia and #2578 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.13 times the Georgia county-equivalent median of 342.7 square miles. It accounts for 0.7% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Fannin County

The Census Bureau estimates that 26,111 people lived in Fannin County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #1,625 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #76 of 159 in Georgia. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 25,331, the population has grown by 780 (+3.1%), compared with +5.5% for Georgia as a whole.

With 387.2 square miles of land, that is 67 people per square mile (26 per km²), placing Fannin County #1,285 nationally for density and #82 in Georgia. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Georgia median is 69. Put another way, there are about 9.5 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate25,45125,82925,74025,95725,96426,111
Change—+378−89+217+7+147

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 Fannin County

3 incorporated places lie at least partly in Fannin County. Together they are home to 2,773 people (10.6%); the other 23,338 (89.4%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Blue Ridge city, with 1,297 residents in the county. Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Blue Ridge city grew fastest since then (+3.3%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Blue Ridge cityCounty seat1,297+3.3%2.676
McCaysville city1,180+2.4%1.505
Morganton city296+3.1%0.784

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

Metropolitan area

Fannin 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

8 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Fannin County; 5 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

3051230513305223054130555305593056030572

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 Fannin County

Fannin County shares a land border with 7 county equivalents, including 2 in Tennessee and North Carolina. It has more land than 4 of them. The largest neighbor is Cherokee County (455.5 mi²) and the smallest is Dawson County (210.8 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Fannin County forms a block of 2,863.8 mi² of land, of which it holds 13.5%.

Map of Fannin County and the 7 county equivalents that border it Gilmer County, Georgia: 426.2 mi² landUnion County, Georgia: 323.6 mi² landPolk County, Tennessee: 434.6 mi² landCherokee County, North Carolina: 455.5 mi² landMurray County, Georgia: 344.5 mi² landLumpkin County, Georgia: 281.4 mi² landDawson County, Georgia: 210.8 mi² land
Fannin 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. FanninCompare
Cherokee CountyNorth Carolina455.51.2× largerCompare
Polk CountyTennessee434.61.1× largerCompare
Gilmer County426.21.1× largerCompare
Murray County344.51.1× smallerCompare
Union County323.61.2× smallerCompare
Lumpkin County281.41.4× smallerCompare
Dawson County210.81.8× smallerCompare

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

Fannin County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 2.7 times as much. Georgia’s county land could hold about 149 areas the size of Fannin County.

Land area: Fannin County and the closest-sized states
Fannin County387.2 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 19.7 miles (31.7 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 Fannin County?

Fannin County has more land than 644 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Fannin County387.2 mi²
Georgia median342.7 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 Fannin County at #2,631 nationally by total area, 53 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 1.3%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.1 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 Fannin County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2577San Juan County, Colorado387.5Compare
#2578Fannin County, Georgia387.2This county
#2579Lewis County, West Virginia386.9Compare

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 34.867155, -84.316274. 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: 1,002,731,542 m²; AWATER: 13,339,556 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 Fannin County?

Fannin County, Georgia has 387.2 square miles (1,002.7 km²) of land and 5.15 square miles of water, for a total area of 392.3 square miles. It ranks #2578 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Fannin County the largest county in Georgia?

No. Fannin County ranks #63 of 159 in Georgia by land area. The largest is Ware County, with 899.4 square miles of land.

What counties border Fannin County?

Fannin County shares a land border with Gilmer County, Union County, Polk County, Tennessee, Cherokee County, North Carolina, Murray County, Lumpkin County, and Dawson County.

What is the population of Fannin County?

The Census Bureau estimates Fannin County had 26,111 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #1,625 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 67 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Fannin County?

The county seat of Fannin County is Blue Ridge.

What cities and towns are in Fannin County?

Fannin County has 3 incorporated places. The most populous are Blue Ridge city, McCaysville city, and Morganton city; 23,338 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Fannin County part of a metropolitan area?

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

How many ZIP codes are in Fannin County?

8 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Fannin County, and 5 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

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

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 2.7 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Fannin County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 247,780 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 251,076 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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