County outline
Where Lancaster County is located
Area breakdown
Land accounts for 95.9% of Lancaster County’s measured area and water for 4.1%. Its combined area converts to 2,548.1 square kilometers or approximately 629,654 acres.
Green: land · blue: water
| Measurement | Square miles | Square kilometers | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land | 943.924 | 2,444.752 | 604,111.4 |
| Water | 39.911 | 103.369 | 25,543 |
| Total | 983.835 | 2,548.121 | 629,654.4 |
How Lancaster County compares
By original Census land area, Lancaster County ranks #12 of 67 in Pennsylvania and #754 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Its land area is 1.445 times the Pennsylvania county-equivalent median of 653.3 square miles. It accounts for 2.1% of the combined county land area in the state.
See the complete Pennsylvania ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?
Population and density of Lancaster County
The Census Bureau estimates that 563,159 people lived in Lancaster County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #127 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #6 of 67 in Pennsylvania. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 552,988, the population has grown by 10,171 (+1.8%), compared with +0.4% for Pennsylvania as a whole.
With 943.9 square miles of land, that is 597 people per square mile (230 per km²), placing Lancaster County #293 nationally for density and #9 in Pennsylvania. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Pennsylvania median is 137. Put another way, there are about 1.1 acres of land per resident.
| July 1 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 552,819 | 556,420 | 557,092 | 560,144 | 562,062 | 563,159 |
| Change | — | +3,601 | +672 | +3,052 | +1,918 | +1,097 |
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 Lancaster County
Lancaster County is divided into 60 municipalities and townships. In Pennsylvania, county subdivisions are local governments, and together they cover all of the county’s land and residents.
The most populous is Lancaster city, with 58,366 residents (10.4% of the county). The largest by land is Rapho township, at 47.4 mi², or 5% of the county’s land. Among those with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Millersville borough grew fastest since then (+17.5%).
| County subdivision | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² | Share of county land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster cityCounty seat | 58,366 | +0.7% | 7.227 | 0.8% |
| Manheim township | 44,826 | +1.3% | 23.9 | 2.5% |
| East Hempfield township | 27,287 | +3.5% | 21.1 | 2.2% |
| Manor township | 21,969 | +0.6% | 38.3 | 4.1% |
| Warwick township | 19,533 | +2.4% | 19.8 | 2.1% |
| East Lampeter township | 18,814 | +5.8% | 19.7 | 2.1% |
| Lancaster townshipCounty seat | 18,592 | −0.4% | 5.858 | 0.6% |
| West Lampeter township | 17,275 | −0.6% | 16.4 | 1.7% |
| West Hempfield township | 17,162 | +0.9% | 18.5 | 2% |
| Ephrata borough | 13,647 | −1.5% | 3.418 | 0.4% |
| Rapho township | 12,240 | +1.8% | 47.4 | 5% |
| Elizabethtown borough | 11,961 | +2.9% | 2.652 | 0.3% |
| Salisbury township | 11,598 | +0.7% | 41.8 | 4.4% |
| East Cocalico township | 11,124 | +3.4% | 20.4 | 2.2% |
| Mount Joy township | 10,815 | +0.8% | 27.8 | 2.9% |
Show the other 45 subdivisions
| Name | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn township | 10,693 | +7.3% | 29.6 |
| Ephrata township | 10,675 | +2.9% | 16.2 |
| Columbia borough | 10,314 | +0.9% | 2.414 |
| Lititz borough | 9,689 | +3.6% | 2.322 |
| Millersville borough | 9,280 | +17.5% | 1.933 |
| West Donegal township | 9,182 | +2.6% | 15.8 |
| Upper Leacock township | 8,925 | −0% | 18.1 |
| East Donegal township | 8,780 | +1.1% | 21.4 |
| West Earl township | 8,407 | −1.2% | 17.7 |
| Mount Joy borough | 8,319 | +0.1% | 2.411 |
| Brecknock township | 7,730 | +2.4% | 24.7 |
| West Cocalico township | 7,607 | +1.5% | 27.3 |
| Providence township | 7,482 | +6.5% | 19.9 |
| Earl township | 7,149 | +0% | 22 |
| Clay township | 7,081 | +3.2% | 22 |
| East Earl township | 6,785 | +1.1% | 24.6 |
| Pequea township | 6,372 | +16% | 13.4 |
| Paradise township | 5,799 | +2.1% | 18.6 |
| New Holland borough | 5,754 | −0.3% | 1.943 |
| Leacock township | 5,672 | +0.6% | 20.6 |
| Martic township | 5,135 | −1.4% | 29 |
| Manheim borough | 4,977 | −1.5% | 1.382 |
| Strasburg township | 4,704 | +6.1% | 20 |
| East Petersburg borough | 4,702 | +2.9% | 1.208 |
| Caernarvon township | 4,600 | +0.2% | 23 |
| Little Britain township | 4,169 | +1.2% | 27.2 |
| Akron borough | 4,093 | −1.5% | 1.227 |
| Colerain township | 3,977 | +2.6% | 28.4 |
| Elizabeth township | 3,951 | −0.8% | 17.4 |
| East Drumore township | 3,935 | +0.2% | 23.1 |
| Conestoga township | 3,916 | +0.3% | 14.6 |
| Denver borough | 3,747 | −1.3% | 1.279 |
| Sadsbury township | 3,489 | −1.2% | 19.6 |
| Conoy township | 3,289 | −1% | 14.6 |
| Bart township | 3,269 | +3% | 16.4 |
| Fulton township | 3,227 | +0.3% | 25.8 |
| Strasburg borough | 3,085 | −1.1% | 0.957 |
| Mountville borough | 2,977 | −1.4% | 0.861 |
| Marietta borough | 2,931 | +11.7% | 0.747 |
| Quarryville borough | 2,871 | +1% | 1.291 |
| Drumore township | 2,635 | +2.8% | 24 |
| Eden township | 2,266 | +1.7% | 12.5 |
| Adamstown borough | 1,932 | +1.4% | 1.36 |
| Terre Hill borough | 1,282 | −1.5% | 0.455 |
| Christiana borough | 1,096 | −1.3% | 0.527 |
Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Lancaster County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.
Metropolitan area
Lancaster County is a central county of the Lancaster, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lancaster County is the area’s only county equivalent, so the metro area has the same 943.9 square miles of land. By combined land it ranks #286 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #106 by population.
ZIP codes
61 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Lancaster County; 53 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.
17022170731750117502175041750517506175071750817509175121751617517175181751917520175221752717529175321753417535175361753817540175431754517547175501755117552175541755517557175601756217563175651756617568175691757017572175761757817579175811758217584176011760217603176061931019344193621936319501195401954319551
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 Lancaster County
Lancaster County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents, including 1 in Maryland. It has more land than every one of them. The largest neighbor is York County (904.4 mi²) and the smallest is Cecil County (346.3 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Lancaster County forms a block of 4,688.2 mi² of land, of which it holds 20.1%.
| Bordering county equivalent | Land mi² | Size vs. Lancaster | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| York County | 904.4 | about the same | Compare |
| Berks County | 856.4 | 1.1× smaller | Compare |
| Chester County | 750.6 | 1.3× smaller | Compare |
| Dauphin County | 524.9 | 1.8× smaller | Compare |
| Lebanon County | 361.8 | 2.6× smaller | Compare |
| Cecil CountyMaryland | 346.3 | 2.7× smaller | Compare |
How big is Lancaster County compared with U.S. states?
Lancaster County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.1 times as much. Pennsylvania’s county land could hold about 47 areas the size of Lancaster County.
Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 30.7 miles (49.4 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 Lancaster County?
Lancaster County has more land than 2,468 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.
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 Lancaster County at #797 nationally by total area, 43 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 4.1%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 2.9 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 Lancaster County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.
| Land rank | County equivalent | Land mi² | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| #753 | Marion County, Kansas | 944.3 | Compare |
| #754 | Lancaster County, Pennsylvania | 943.9 | This county |
| #755 | Brooks County, Texas | 943.4 | Compare |
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 40.041992, -76.250198. 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: 2,444,751,643 m²; AWATER: 103,368,820 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.
Common questions
How big is Lancaster County?
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has 943.9 square miles (2,444.8 km²) of land and 39.9 square miles of water, for a total area of 983.8 square miles. It ranks #754 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.
Is Lancaster County the largest county in Pennsylvania?
No. Lancaster County ranks #12 of 67 in Pennsylvania by land area. The largest is Lycoming County, with 1,228.9 square miles of land.
What counties border Lancaster County?
Lancaster County shares a land border with York County, Chester County, Lebanon County, Berks County, Dauphin County, and Cecil County, Maryland.
What is the population of Lancaster County?
The Census Bureau estimates Lancaster County had 563,159 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #127 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 597 people per square mile of land.
What is the county seat of Lancaster County?
The county seat of Lancaster County is Lancaster.
What cities and towns are in Lancaster County?
Lancaster County has 60 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Lancaster city, Manheim township, East Hempfield township, Manor township, and Warwick township.
Is Lancaster County part of a metropolitan area?
Yes. It is a central county of the Lancaster, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
How many ZIP codes are in Lancaster County?
61 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Lancaster County, and 53 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.
How does Lancaster County compare with U.S. states?
It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.1 times as much land.
How many acres of land are in Lancaster County?
The land measurement converts to approximately 604,111 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 629,654 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.