Hancock County area

Hancock County, Indiana covers 307 square miles: 306 square miles of land and 1.069 square miles of water. Its county seat is Greenfield. An estimated 90,969 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 180592026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area306 mi²
Water area1.069 mi²
Population (2025)90,969
People per mi²297

County outline

Generalized outline of Hancock County, Indiana
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 Hancock County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.7% of Hancock County’s measured area and water for 0.3%. Its combined area converts to 795.2 square kilometers or approximately 196,497 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land305.957792.425195,812.5
Water1.0692.769684.2
Total307.026795.194196,496.6

How Hancock County compares

By original Census land area, Hancock County ranks #79 of 92 in Indiana and #2796 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.772 times the Indiana county-equivalent median of 396.4 square miles. It accounts for 0.9% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Hancock County

The Census Bureau estimates that 90,969 people lived in Hancock County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #674 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #18 of 92 in Indiana. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 79,828, the population has grown by 11,141 (+14%), compared with +2.8% for Indiana as a whole.

With 306 square miles of land, that is 297 people per square mile (115 per km²), placing Hancock County #514 nationally for density and #16 in Indiana. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Indiana median is 88. Put another way, there are about 2.2 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate80,17581,84883,01686,15988,87790,969
Change—+1,673+1,168+3,143+2,718+2,092

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 Hancock County

8 incorporated places lie at least partly in Hancock County. Together they are home to 55,003 people (60.5%); the other 35,966 (39.5%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Greenfield city, with 26,544 residents in the county. Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, McCordsville town grew fastest since then (+48.5%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Greenfield cityCounty seat26,544+13.2%14.7
McCordsville town13,094+48.5%9.146
Cumberland townAlso in 1 other county5,535+40%3.377
Fortville town4,951+3.2%3.877
New Palestine town3,621+32%2.039
Shirley townAlso in 1 other county628+2.8%0.361
Wilkinson town414−2.4%0.203
Spring Lake town216+2.4%0.153

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

Metropolitan area

Hancock County is a central county of the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 11 county equivalents have 2,205,695 residents on 4,086 square miles of land; Hancock County accounts for 7.5% of the land and 4.1% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #71 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #33 by population. It belongs to the Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie, IN Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Marion County992,196396
Hamilton County387,036394.4
Hendricks County193,510406.9
Johnson County174,262320.4
Madison County135,088451.9
Hancock County90,969306
Boone County80,689422.9
Morgan County74,967403.9
Shelby County45,882411.1
Brown County15,777312
Tipton County15,319260.5

ZIP codes

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

46040460554605646064461154611746130461404615446161461634618646229462364623947384

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 Hancock County

Hancock County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents. Each of them has more land than Hancock County. The largest neighbor is Madison County (451.9 mi²) and the smallest is Henry County (391.9 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Hancock County forms a block of 2,759.4 mi² of land, of which it holds 11.1%.

Map of Hancock County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Shelby County, Indiana: 411.1 mi² landMarion County, Indiana: 396 mi² landMadison County, Indiana: 451.9 mi² landHenry County, Indiana: 391.9 mi² landRush County, Indiana: 408.1 mi² landHamilton County, Indiana: 394.4 mi² land
Hancock 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. HancockCompare
Madison County451.91.5× largerCompare
Shelby County411.11.3× largerCompare
Rush County408.11.3× largerCompare
Marion County3961.3× largerCompare
Hamilton County394.41.3× largerCompare
Henry County391.91.3× largerCompare

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

Hancock County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 3.4 times as much. Indiana’s county land could hold about 117 areas the size of Hancock County.

Land area: Hancock County and the closest-sized states
Hancock County306 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 17.5 miles (28.2 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 Hancock County?

Hancock County has more land than 426 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Hancock County306 mi²
Indiana median396.4 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 Hancock County at #2,837 nationally by total area, 41 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 0.3%, 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 Hancock County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2795Harrison County, Kentucky306.5Compare
#2796Hancock County, Indiana306This county
#2797Brown County, Illinois305.7Compare

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 39.822529, -85.773150. 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: 792,425,238 m²; AWATER: 2,769,690 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 Hancock County?

Hancock County, Indiana has 306 square miles (792.4 km²) of land and 1.069 square miles of water, for a total area of 307 square miles. It ranks #2796 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Hancock County the largest county in Indiana?

No. Hancock County ranks #79 of 92 in Indiana by land area. The largest is Allen County, with 657.1 square miles of land.

What counties border Hancock County?

Hancock County shares a land border with Shelby County, Marion County, Madison County, Henry County, Rush County, and Hamilton County.

What is the population of Hancock County?

The Census Bureau estimates Hancock County had 90,969 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #674 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 297 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Hancock County?

The county seat of Hancock County is Greenfield.

What cities and towns are in Hancock County?

Hancock County has 8 incorporated places. The most populous five are Greenfield city, McCordsville town, Cumberland town, Fortville town, and New Palestine town; 35,966 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Hancock County part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is a central county of the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 11 county equivalents and 2,205,695 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Hancock County?

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

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

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 3.4 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Hancock County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 195,812 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 196,497 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