Pickaway County area

Pickaway County, Ohio covers 506.6 square miles: 501.3 square miles of land and 5.287 square miles of water. Its county seat is Circleville. An estimated 62,978 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 391292026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area501.3 mi²
Water area5.287 mi²
Population (2025)62,978
People per mi²126

County outline

Generalized outline of Pickaway County, Ohio
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 Pickaway County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99% of Pickaway County’s measured area and water for 1%. Its combined area converts to 1,312 square kilometers or approximately 324,193 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land501.2651,298.27320,809.6
Water5.28713.6933,383.7
Total506.5521,311.964324,193.3

How Pickaway County compares

By original Census land area, Pickaway County ranks #25 of 88 in Ohio and #2075 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.15 times the Ohio county-equivalent median of 436 square miles. It accounts for 1.2% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Pickaway County

The Census Bureau estimates that 62,978 people lived in Pickaway County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #878 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #42 of 88 in Ohio. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 58,544, the population has grown by 4,434 (+7.6%), compared with +0.9% for Ohio as a whole.

With 501.3 square miles of land, that is 126 people per square mile (49 per km²), placing Pickaway County #849 nationally for density and #39 in Ohio. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Ohio median is 120. Put another way, there are about 5.1 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate58,65958,76059,95361,12562,20762,978
Change—+101+1,193+1,172+1,082+771

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 Pickaway County

10 incorporated places lie at least partly in Pickaway County. Together they are home to 29,075 people (46.2%); the other 33,903 (53.8%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Circleville city, with 14,634 residents in the county. Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, South Bloomfield village grew fastest since then (+94.1%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Circleville cityCounty seat14,634+5.1%7.296
Ashville village4,819+6.3%2.476
South Bloomfield village4,164+94.1%4
Commercial Point villageAlso in 1 other county3,271+5.9%4.687
Williamsport village1,027+5.5%1.775
New Holland villageAlso in 1 other county702+5.2%1.574
Tarlton villageAlso in 1 other county269+5.9%0.384
Darbyville village189+2.2%0.516
Harrisburg villageAlso in 1 other county0—0.155
Lockbourne villageAlso in 1 other county0—0.797

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

Metropolitan area

Pickaway County is an outlying county of the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 10 county equivalents have 2,242,028 residents on 4,797.5 square miles of land; Pickaway County accounts for 10.4% of the land and 2.8% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #55 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #32 by population. It belongs to the Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Franklin County1,361,536532.4
Delaware County242,032443.1
Licking County185,564682.4
Fairfield County169,752504.4
Union County73,446431.7
Pickaway County62,978501.3
Madison County46,985466.7
Morrow County36,305406.1
Perry County35,918407.9
Hocking County27,512421.4

ZIP codes

17 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Pickaway County; 9 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

4310243103431104311343115431164311743125431354313743143431454314643154431564316445644

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 Pickaway County

Pickaway County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents. It has more land than 3 of them. The largest neighbor is Ross County (689.2 mi²) and the smallest is Fayette County (406.4 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Pickaway County forms a block of 3,521.6 mi² of land, of which it holds 14.2%.

Map of Pickaway County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Ross County, Ohio: 689.2 mi² landFranklin County, Ohio: 532.4 mi² landFairfield County, Ohio: 504.4 mi² landFayette County, Ohio: 406.4 mi² landMadison County, Ohio: 466.7 mi² landHocking County, Ohio: 421.4 mi² land
Pickaway 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. PickawayCompare
Ross County689.21.4× largerCompare
Franklin County532.41.1× largerCompare
Fairfield County504.4about the sameCompare
Madison County466.71.1× smallerCompare
Hocking County421.41.2× smallerCompare
Fayette County406.41.2× smallerCompare

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

Pickaway County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 2.1 times as much. Ohio’s county land could hold about 82 areas the size of Pickaway County.

Land area: Pickaway County and the closest-sized states
Pickaway County501.3 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 22.4 miles (36 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 Pickaway County?

Pickaway County has more land than 1,147 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Pickaway County501.3 mi²
Ohio median436 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 Pickaway County at #2,153 nationally by total area, 78 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%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.1 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 Pickaway County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2074Clark County, Illinois501.4Compare
#2075Pickaway County, Ohio501.3This county
#2076Meriwether County, Georgia500.9Compare

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 39.648947, -83.052827. 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: 1,298,270,467 m²; AWATER: 13,694,543 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 Pickaway County?

Pickaway County, Ohio has 501.3 square miles (1,298.3 km²) of land and 5.287 square miles of water, for a total area of 506.6 square miles. It ranks #2075 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Pickaway County the largest county in Ohio?

No. Pickaway County ranks #25 of 88 in Ohio by land area. The largest is Ashtabula County, with 702.4 square miles of land.

What counties border Pickaway County?

Pickaway County shares a land border with Ross County, Franklin County, Fairfield County, Fayette County, Madison County, and Hocking County.

What is the population of Pickaway County?

The Census Bureau estimates Pickaway County had 62,978 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #878 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 126 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Pickaway County?

The county seat of Pickaway County is Circleville.

What cities and towns are in Pickaway County?

Pickaway County has 10 incorporated places. The most populous five are Circleville city, Ashville village, South Bloomfield village, Commercial Point village, and Williamsport village; 33,903 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Pickaway County part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is an outlying county of the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 10 county equivalents and 2,242,028 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Pickaway County?

17 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Pickaway County, and 9 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

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

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 2.1 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Pickaway County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 320,810 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 324,193 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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