Franklin County area

Franklin County, Idaho covers 667.7 square miles: 663.1 square miles of land and 4.652 square miles of water. Its county seat is Preston. An estimated 15,889 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 160412026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area663.1 mi²
Water area4.652 mi²
Population (2025)15,889
People per mi²24

County outline

Generalized outline of Franklin 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 Franklin County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.3% of Franklin County’s measured area and water for 0.7%. Its combined area converts to 1,729.4 square kilometers or approximately 427,335 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land663.0591,717.315424,357.8
Water4.65212.0492,977.3
Total667.7111,729.364427,335

How Franklin County compares

By original Census land area, Franklin County ranks #37 of 44 in Idaho and #1415 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.504 times the Idaho county-equivalent median of 1,315.7 square miles. It accounts for 0.8% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Franklin County

The Census Bureau estimates that 15,889 people lived in Franklin County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,109 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #22 of 44 in Idaho. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 14,196, the population has grown by 1,693 (+11.9%), compared with +10.4% for Idaho as a whole.

With 663.1 square miles of land, that is 24 people per square mile (9.3 per km²), placing Franklin County #2,174 nationally for density and #18 in Idaho. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Idaho median is 10. Put another way, there are about 27 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate14,28414,67515,17915,53315,66215,889
Change—+391+504+354+129+227

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 Franklin County

6 incorporated places lie at least partly in Franklin County. Together they are home to 8,972 people (56.5%); the other 6,917 (43.5%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Preston city, with 6,177 residents in the county. Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Franklin city grew fastest since then (+12.8%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Preston cityCounty seat6,177+12%6.828
Franklin city1,155+12.8%1.303
Weston city586+15.1%1.901
Dayton city545+5.6%6.676
Clifton city466+12.6%2.299
Oxford city43+10.3%0.261

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

Metropolitan area

Franklin County is an outlying county of the Logan, UT-ID Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2 county equivalents have 160,889 residents on 1,827.7 square miles of land; Franklin County accounts for 36.3% of the land and 9.9% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #172 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #274 by population.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Cache CountyUtah145,0001,164.7
Franklin County15,889663.1

ZIP codes

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

83228832328323783241832638328383286

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 Franklin County

Franklin County shares a land border with 5 county equivalents, including 1 in Utah. Each of them has more land than Franklin County. The largest neighbor is Caribou County (1,764.2 mi²) and the smallest is Bear Lake County (975.7 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Franklin County forms a block of 6,879.1 mi² of land, of which it holds 9.6%.

Map of Franklin County and the 5 county equivalents that border it Bear Lake County, Idaho: 975.7 mi² landCache County, Utah: 1,164.7 mi² landBannock County, Idaho: 1,112.5 mi² landOneida County, Idaho: 1,199 mi² landCaribou County, Idaho: 1,764.2 mi² land
Franklin 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. FranklinCompare
Caribou County1,764.22.7× largerCompare
Oneida County1,1991.8× largerCompare
Cache CountyUtah1,164.71.8× largerCompare
Bannock County1,112.51.7× largerCompare
Bear Lake County975.71.5× largerCompare

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

Franklin 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. Idaho’s county land could hold about 125 areas the size of Franklin County.

Land area: Franklin County and the closest-sized states
Franklin County663.1 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 25.7 miles (41.4 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 Franklin County?

Franklin County has more land than 1,807 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Franklin County663.1 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 Franklin County at #1,523 nationally by total area, 108 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 0.7%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.5 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 Franklin County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1414Muskingum County, Ohio664.5Compare
#1415Franklin County, Idaho663.1This county
#1416Kendall County, Texas662.5Compare

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 42.173609, -111.822965. 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: 1,717,314,642 m²; AWATER: 12,048,241 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 Franklin County?

Franklin County, Idaho has 663.1 square miles (1,717.3 km²) of land and 4.652 square miles of water, for a total area of 667.7 square miles. It ranks #1415 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Franklin County the largest county in Idaho?

No. Franklin County ranks #37 of 44 in Idaho by land area. The largest is Idaho County, with 8,477.5 square miles of land.

What counties border Franklin County?

Franklin County shares a land border with Bear Lake County, Cache County, Utah, Bannock County, Oneida County, and Caribou County.

What is the population of Franklin County?

The Census Bureau estimates Franklin County had 15,889 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,109 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 24 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Franklin County?

The county seat of Franklin County is Preston.

What cities and towns are in Franklin County?

Franklin County has 6 incorporated places. The most populous five are Preston city, Franklin city, Weston city, Dayton city, and Clifton city; 6,917 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Franklin County part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is an outlying county of the Logan, UT-ID Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 2 county equivalents and 160,889 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Franklin County?

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

How does Franklin 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 Franklin County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 424,358 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 427,335 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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