Newton County area

Newton County, Indiana covers 403.4 square miles: 401.8 square miles of land and 1.679 square miles of water. Its county seat is Kentland. An estimated 14,188 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 181112026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area401.8 mi²
Water area1.679 mi²
Population (2025)14,188
People per mi²35

County outline

Generalized outline of Newton 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 Newton County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.6% of Newton County’s measured area and water for 0.4%. Its combined area converts to 1,044.9 square kilometers or approximately 258,198 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land401.7551,040.541257,123.2
Water1.6794.3491,074.6
Total403.4341,044.889258,197.8

How Newton County compares

By original Census land area, Newton County ranks #43 of 92 in Indiana and #2517 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.013 times the Indiana county-equivalent median of 396.4 square miles. It accounts for 1.1% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Newton County

The Census Bureau estimates that 14,188 people lived in Newton County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,218 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #82 of 92 in Indiana. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 13,825, the population has grown by 363 (+2.6%), compared with +2.8% for Indiana as a whole.

With 401.8 square miles of land, that is 35 people per square mile (14 per km²), placing Newton County #1,867 nationally for density and #87 in Indiana. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Indiana median is 88. Put another way, there are about 18 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate13,78713,81113,82814,02714,08714,188
Change—+24+17+199+60+101

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 Newton County

5 incorporated places lie at least partly in Newton County. Together they are home to 4,746 people (33.5%); the other 9,442 (66.5%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Kentland town, with 1,631 residents in the county. Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Morocco town grew fastest since then (+0.7%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Kentland townCounty seat1,631−0.4%1.35
Morocco town1,084+0.7%1.066
Goodland town971−0.7%0.761
Brook town944+0.4%0.677
Mount Ayr town1160%0.175

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

Metropolitan area

Newton County is an outlying county of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, in the Lake County-Porter County-Jasper County, IN metropolitan division. Its 13 county equivalents have 9,434,123 residents on 6,923.3 square miles of land; Newton County accounts for 5.8% of the land and 0.2% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #27 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #3 by population. It belongs to the Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Cook CountyIllinois5,194,625944.9
DuPage CountyIllinois934,298327.9
Lake CountyIllinois719,339443.7
Will CountyIllinois712,253835.9
Kane CountyIllinois525,757519.4
Lake County504,612498.9
McHenry CountyIllinois317,751603.4
Porter County176,049418.1
Kendall CountyIllinois145,470320.2
DeKalb CountyIllinois101,835631.3
Grundy CountyIllinois54,052418.1
Jasper County33,894559.7
Newton County14,188401.8

ZIP codes

12 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Newton County; 9 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

463104634946379463814792247942479434794847951479634796447978

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 Newton County

Newton County shares a land border with 5 county equivalents, including 2 in Illinois. Each of them has more land than Newton County. The largest neighbor is Iroquois County (1,117.4 mi²) and the smallest is Benton County (406.4 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Newton County forms a block of 3,660.6 mi² of land, of which it holds 11%.

Map of Newton County and the 5 county equivalents that border it Jasper County, Indiana: 559.7 mi² landIroquois County, Illinois: 1,117.4 mi² landLake County, Indiana: 498.9 mi² landBenton County, Indiana: 406.4 mi² landKankakee County, Illinois: 676.5 mi² land
Newton 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. NewtonCompare
Iroquois CountyIllinois1,117.42.8× largerCompare
Kankakee CountyIllinois676.51.7× largerCompare
Jasper County559.71.4× largerCompare
Lake County498.91.2× largerCompare
Benton County406.4about the sameCompare

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

Newton County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 2.6 times as much. Indiana’s county land could hold about 89 areas the size of Newton County.

Land area: Newton County and the closest-sized states
Newton County401.8 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 20 miles (32.3 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 Newton County?

Newton County has more land than 705 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Newton County401.8 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 Newton County at #2,587 nationally by total area, 70 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 Newton County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2516Louisa County, Iowa401.8Compare
#2517Newton County, Indiana401.8This county
#2518Wayne County, Indiana401.8Compare

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 40.962399, -87.402172. 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: 1,040,539,818 m²; AWATER: 4,349,506 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 Newton County?

Newton County, Indiana has 401.8 square miles (1,040.5 km²) of land and 1.679 square miles of water, for a total area of 403.4 square miles. It ranks #2517 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Newton County the largest county in Indiana?

No. Newton County ranks #43 of 92 in Indiana by land area. The largest is Allen County, with 657.1 square miles of land.

What counties border Newton County?

Newton County shares a land border with Jasper County, Iroquois County, Illinois, Lake County, Benton County, and Kankakee County, Illinois.

What is the population of Newton County?

The Census Bureau estimates Newton County had 14,188 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,218 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 35 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Newton County?

The county seat of Newton County is Kentland.

What cities and towns are in Newton County?

Newton County has 5 incorporated places. The most populous are Kentland town, Morocco town, Goodland town, Brook town, and Mount Ayr town; 9,442 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Newton County part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is an outlying county of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 13 county equivalents and 9,434,123 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Newton County?

12 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Newton County, and 9 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

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

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 2.6 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Newton County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 257,123 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 258,198 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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