ID · GEOID 16035

Clearwater County area

Clearwater County, Idaho covers 2,484.1 square miles: 2,453.4 square miles of land and 30.7 square miles of water.

Official Census measurements2026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area2,453.4 mi²
Water area30.7 mi²
Total area2,484.1 mi²
National land rank#222

County outline

Generalized outline of Clearwater County, Idaho
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 Clearwater County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 98.8% of Clearwater County’s measured area and water for 1.2%. Its combined area converts to 6,433.9 square kilometers or approximately 1,589,853 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land2,453.426,354.3291,570,188.8
Water30.72579.57719,664
Total2,484.1456,433.9061,589,852.8

How Clearwater County compares

By original Census land area, Clearwater County ranks #10 of 44 in Idaho and #222 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.865 times the Idaho county-equivalent median of 1,315.7 square miles. It accounts for 3% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

What stands out about Clearwater County?

Clearwater County has more land than 3,000 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Clearwater County2,453.4 mi²
Idaho median1,315.7 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 Clearwater County at #236 nationally by total area, 14 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 1.2%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2%. The two percentages are within 0.1 percentage points of each other. 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 Clearwater County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#221Wayne County, Utah2,461.1Compare
#222Clearwater County, Idaho2,453.4This county
#223Roosevelt County, New Mexico2,446.1Compare

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 46.672570, -115.653500. 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: 6,354,329,340 m²; AWATER: 79,577,874 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 Clearwater County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 1,570,189 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 1,589,853 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