NY · GEOID 36073

Orleans County area

Orleans County, New York covers 817.4 square miles: 391.3 square miles of land and 426.2 square miles of water.

Official Census measurements2026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area391.3 mi²
Water area426.2 mi²
Total area817.4 mi²
National land rank#2570

County outline

Generalized outline of Orleans County, New York
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 Orleans County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 47.9% of Orleans County’s measured area and water for 52.1%. Its combined area converts to 2,117.1 square kilometers or approximately 523,149 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land391.2621,013.364250,407.7
Water426.1581,103.744272,741.1
Total817.422,117.108523,148.8

How Orleans County compares

By original Census land area, Orleans County ranks #50 of 62 in New York and #2570 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.599 times the New York county-equivalent median of 653.7 square miles. It accounts for 0.8% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

What stands out about Orleans County?

Orleans County has more land than 652 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Orleans County391.3 mi²
New York median653.7 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 Orleans County at #1,139 nationally by total area, 1,431 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 52.1%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 51 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 Orleans County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2569Talbot County, Georgia391.4Compare
#2570Orleans County, New York391.3This county
#2571Fairfax County, Virginia391Compare

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 43.338899, -78.211096. 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: 1,013,364,732 m²; AWATER: 1,103,744,015 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 Orleans County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 250,408 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 523,149 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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