Richland Parish area

Richland Parish, Louisiana covers 564.4 square miles: 555.6 square miles of land and 8.792 square miles of water. Its county seat is Rayville. An estimated 19,582 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 220832026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area555.6 mi²
Water area8.792 mi²
Population (2025)19,582
People per mi²35

County outline

Generalized outline of Richland Parish, Louisiana
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 Richland Parish is located

Richland Parish highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 98.4% of Richland Parish’s measured area and water for 1.6%. Its combined area converts to 1,461.8 square kilometers or approximately 361,219 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land555.6131,439.031355,592.3
Water8.79222.7715,626.9
Total564.4051,461.802361,219.2

How Richland Parish compares

By original Census land area, Richland Parish ranks #44 of 64 in Louisiana and #1867 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.86 times the Louisiana county-equivalent median of 645.9 square miles. It accounts for 1.3% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Richland Parish

The Census Bureau estimates that 19,582 people lived in Richland Parish on July 1, 2025. That ranks #1,913 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #44 of 64 in Louisiana. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 20,043, the population has declined by 461 (−2.3%), compared with −0.9% for Louisiana as a whole.

With 555.6 square miles of land, that is 35 people per square mile (14 per km²), placing Richland Parish #1,868 nationally for density and #37 in Louisiana. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Louisiana median is 48. 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
Estimate20,02919,86619,81919,72119,66619,582
Change—−163−47−98−55−84

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 Richland Parish

3 incorporated places lie at least partly in Richland Parish. Together they are home to 6,304 people (32.2%); the other 13,278 (67.8%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Rayville town, with 3,176 residents in the county. By land, Delhi town is the largest at 2.872 mi².

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Rayville townCounty seat3,176−5.2%2.31
Delhi town2,519−4.1%2.872
Mangham town609−2.9%1.112

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

Metropolitan area

Richland Parish is an outlying county of the Monroe, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 4 county equivalents have 222,390 residents on 2,837.6 square miles of land; Richland Parish accounts for 19.6% of the land and 8.8% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #103 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #220 by population. It belongs to the Monroe-Ruston, LA Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Ouachita Parish158,542610.1
Morehouse Parish23,705795
Union Parish20,561876.9
Richland Parish19,582555.6

ZIP codes

8 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Richland Parish; 4 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

7121871232712377125971264712697127971418

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 Richland Parish

Richland Parish shares a land border with 7 county equivalents. It has more land than 3 of them. The largest neighbor is Morehouse Parish (795 mi²) and the smallest is West Carroll Parish (359.7 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Richland Parish forms a block of 4,519.6 mi² of land, of which it holds 12.3%.

Map of Richland Parish and the 7 county equivalents that border it Franklin Parish, Louisiana: 624.3 mi² landMorehouse Parish, Louisiana: 795 mi² landOuachita Parish, Louisiana: 610.1 mi² landWest Carroll Parish, Louisiana: 359.7 mi² landCaldwell Parish, Louisiana: 529.8 mi² landMadison Parish, Louisiana: 623.9 mi² landEast Carroll Parish, Louisiana: 421.2 mi² land
Richland Parish (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. RichlandCompare
Morehouse Parish7951.4× largerCompare
Franklin Parish624.31.1× largerCompare
Madison Parish623.91.1× largerCompare
Ouachita Parish610.11.1× largerCompare
Caldwell Parish529.8about the sameCompare
East Carroll Parish421.21.3× smallerCompare
West Carroll Parish359.71.5× smallerCompare

How big is Richland Parish compared with U.S. states?

Richland Parish has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.9 times as much. Louisiana’s county land could hold about 78 areas the size of Richland Parish.

Land area: Richland Parish and the closest-sized states
Richland Parish555.6 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 23.6 miles (37.9 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 Richland Parish?

Richland Parish has more land than 1,355 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Richland Parish555.6 mi²
Louisiana median645.9 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 Richland Parish at #1,956 nationally by total area, 89 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 1.6%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.4 percentage points higher. 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 Richland Parish in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1866Ingham County, Michigan556.1Compare
#1867Richland Parish, Louisiana555.6This county
#1868Atlantic County, New Jersey555.6Compare

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 32.413158, -91.748353. 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: 1,439,031,392 m²; AWATER: 22,771,219 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 Richland Parish?

Richland Parish, Louisiana has 555.6 square miles (1,439 km²) of land and 8.792 square miles of water, for a total area of 564.4 square miles. It ranks #1867 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Richland Parish the largest county in Louisiana?

No. Richland Parish ranks #44 of 64 in Louisiana by land area. The largest is Vernon Parish, with 1,326.7 square miles of land.

What counties border Richland Parish?

Richland Parish shares a land border with Franklin Parish, Morehouse Parish, Ouachita Parish, West Carroll Parish, Caldwell Parish, Madison Parish, and East Carroll Parish.

What is the population of Richland Parish?

The Census Bureau estimates Richland Parish had 19,582 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #1,913 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 35 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Richland Parish?

The county seat of Richland Parish is Rayville.

What cities and towns are in Richland Parish?

Richland Parish has 3 incorporated places. The most populous are Rayville town, Delhi town, and Mangham town; 13,278 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Richland Parish part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is an outlying county of the Monroe, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 4 county equivalents and 222,390 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Richland Parish?

8 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Richland Parish, and 4 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Richland Parish compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.9 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Richland Parish?

The land measurement converts to approximately 355,592 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 361,219 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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