MA · GEOID 25011

Franklin County area

Franklin County, Massachusetts covers 724.5 square miles: 699.2 square miles of land and 25.3 square miles of water.

Official Census measurements2026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area699.2 mi²
Water area25.3 mi²
Total area724.5 mi²
National land rank#1324

County outline

Generalized outline of Franklin County, Massachusetts
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 96.5% of Franklin County’s measured area and water for 3.5%. Its combined area converts to 1,876.5 square kilometers or approximately 463,702 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land699.2091,810.943447,493.8
Water25.32665.59416,208.6
Total724.5351,876.537463,702.4

How Franklin County compares

By original Census land area, Franklin County ranks #4 of 14 in Massachusetts and #1324 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.294 times the Massachusetts county-equivalent median of 540.2 square miles. It accounts for 9% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

What stands out about Franklin County?

Franklin County has more land than 1,898 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Franklin County699.2 mi²
Massachusetts median540.2 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 #1,340 nationally by total area, 16 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 3.5%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 2.3 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 Franklin County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1323Mitchell County, Kansas701.8Compare
#1324Franklin County, Massachusetts699.2This county
#1325Bertie County, North Carolina699.2Compare

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 42.584504, -72.591792. 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: 1,810,943,446 m²; AWATER: 65,594,676 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 many acres of land are in Franklin County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 447,494 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 463,702 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