MO · GEOID 29015

Benton County area

Benton County, Missouri covers 752.5 square miles: 704 square miles of land and 48.5 square miles of water.

Official Census measurements2026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area704 mi²
Water area48.5 mi²
Total area752.5 mi²
National land rank#1317

County outline

Generalized outline of Benton County, Missouri
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 Benton County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 93.6% of Benton County’s measured area and water for 6.4%. Its combined area converts to 1,949 square kilometers or approximately 481,619 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land704.0331,823.437450,581.1
Water48.497125.60731,038.1
Total752.531,949.044481,619.2

How Benton County compares

By original Census land area, Benton County ranks #25 of 115 in Missouri and #1317 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.189 times the Missouri county-equivalent median of 592 square miles. It accounts for 1% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

What stands out about Benton County?

Benton County has more land than 1,905 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Benton County704 mi²
Missouri median592 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 Benton County at #1,278 nationally by total area, 39 places closer to the top than its land rank. The water assigned to this geography moves it ahead of some county equivalents with more land.

Its water share is 6.4%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 5.3 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 Benton County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1316Fayette County, Tennessee704.1Compare
#1317Benton County, Missouri704This county
#1318Montgomery County, Illinois703.8Compare

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 38.301036, -93.287942. 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: 1,823,437,744 m²; AWATER: 125,605,710 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 Benton County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 450,581 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 481,619 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