Cheyenne County area

Cheyenne County, Kansas covers 1,020.9 square miles: 1,019.9 square miles of land and 1.057 square miles of water. Its county seat is St. Francis. An estimated 2,604 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 200232026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area1,019.9 mi²
Water area1.057 mi²
Population (2025)2,604
People per mi²2.6

County outline

Generalized outline of Cheyenne County, Kansas
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 Cheyenne County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.9% of Cheyenne County’s measured area and water for 0.1%. Its combined area converts to 2,644.2 square kilometers or approximately 653,406 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land1,019.892,641.503652,729.6
Water1.0572.738676.5
Total1,020.9472,644.241653,406.1

How Cheyenne County compares

By original Census land area, Cheyenne County ranks #15 of 105 in Kansas and #652 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.398 times the Kansas county-equivalent median of 729.7 square miles. It accounts for 1.2% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Cheyenne County

The Census Bureau estimates that 2,604 people lived in Cheyenne County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #3,066 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #89 of 105 in Kansas. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 2,615, the population has declined by 11 (−0.4%), compared with +1.3% for Kansas as a whole.

With 1,019.9 square miles of land, that is 2.6 people per square mile (0.99 per km²), placing Cheyenne County #3,018 nationally for density and #94 in Kansas. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Kansas median is 8.1. Put another way, there are about 251 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate2,6132,6362,6142,6212,6182,604
Change—+23−22+7−3−14

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 Cheyenne County

2 incorporated places lie at least partly in Cheyenne County. Together they are home to 1,704 people (65.4%); the other 900 (34.6%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is St. Francis city, with 1,265 residents in the county. By land, Bird City city is the largest at 2.266 mi².

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
St. Francis cityCounty seat1,265−0.5%0.857
Bird City city439+0.5%2.266

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

Metropolitan area

Cheyenne 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

5 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Cheyenne County; 2 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

6773167735677416774567756

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 Cheyenne County

Cheyenne County shares a land border with 5 county equivalents, including 3 in Nebraska and Colorado. It has more land than 1 of them. The largest neighbor is Yuma County (2,364.4 mi²) and the smallest is Dundy County (919.7 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Cheyenne County forms a block of 8,590.3 mi² of land, of which it holds 11.9%.

Map of Cheyenne County and the 5 county equivalents that border it Sherman County, Kansas: 1,056.1 mi² landDundy County, Nebraska: 919.7 mi² landRawlins County, Kansas: 1,069.4 mi² landYuma County, Colorado: 2,364.4 mi² landKit Carson County, Colorado: 2,160.8 mi² land
Cheyenne 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. CheyenneCompare
Yuma CountyColorado2,364.42.3× largerCompare
Kit Carson CountyColorado2,160.82.1× largerCompare
Rawlins County1,069.4about the sameCompare
Sherman County1,056.1about the sameCompare
Dundy CountyNebraska919.71.1× smallerCompare

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

Cheyenne 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 times as much. Kansas’s county land could hold about 80 areas the size of Cheyenne County.

Land area: Cheyenne County and the closest-sized states
Cheyenne County1,019.9 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 31.9 miles (51.4 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 Cheyenne County?

Cheyenne County has more land than 2,570 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Cheyenne County1,019.9 mi²
Kansas median729.7 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 Cheyenne County at #749 nationally by total area, 97 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 0.1%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 1.1 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 Cheyenne County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#651Calaveras County, California1,020Compare
#652Cheyenne County, Kansas1,019.9This county
#653Greenbrier County, West Virginia1,019.8Compare

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 39.789901, -101.727317. 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: 2,641,501,917 m²; AWATER: 2,738,021 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 Cheyenne County?

Cheyenne County, Kansas has 1,019.9 square miles (2,641.5 km²) of land and 1.057 square miles of water, for a total area of 1,020.9 square miles. It ranks #652 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Cheyenne County the largest county in Kansas?

No. Cheyenne County ranks #15 of 105 in Kansas by land area. The largest is Butler County, with 1,429.7 square miles of land.

What counties border Cheyenne County?

Cheyenne County shares a land border with Sherman County, Dundy County, Nebraska, Rawlins County, Yuma County, Colorado, and Kit Carson County, Colorado.

What is the population of Cheyenne County?

The Census Bureau estimates Cheyenne County had 2,604 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #3,066 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 2.6 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Cheyenne County?

The county seat of Cheyenne County is St. Francis.

What cities and towns are in Cheyenne County?

Cheyenne County has 2 incorporated places. The most populous are St. Francis city and Bird City city; 900 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Cheyenne County part of a metropolitan area?

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

How many ZIP codes are in Cheyenne County?

5 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Cheyenne County, and 2 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

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

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Cheyenne County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 652,730 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 653,406 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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