Duval County area

Duval County, Texas covers 1,795.6 square miles: 1,793.5 square miles of land and 2.115 square miles of water. Its county seat is San Diego. An estimated 9,402 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 481312026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area1,793.5 mi²
Water area2.115 mi²
Population (2025)9,402
People per mi²5.2

County outline

Generalized outline of Duval County, Texas
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 Duval County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.9% of Duval County’s measured area and water for 0.1%. Its combined area converts to 4,650.6 square kilometers or approximately 1,149,179 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land1,793.4774,645.0841,147,825.3
Water2.1155.4781,353.6
Total1,795.5924,650.5621,149,178.9

How Duval County compares

By original Census land area, Duval County ranks #13 of 254 in Texas and #332 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.974 times the Texas county-equivalent median of 908.7 square miles. It accounts for 0.7% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Duval County

The Census Bureau estimates that 9,402 people lived in Duval County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,529 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #169 of 254 in Texas. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 9,830, the population has declined by 428 (−4.4%), compared with +8.8% for Texas as a whole.

With 1,793.5 square miles of land, that is 5.2 people per square mile (2 per km²), placing Duval County #2,837 nationally for density and #194 in Texas. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Texas median is 22. Put another way, there are about 122 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate9,81110,0289,6989,6489,6529,402
Change—+217−330−50+4−250

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 Duval County

3 incorporated places lie at least partly in Duval County. Together they are home to 6,167 people (65.6%); the other 3,235 (34.4%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is San Diego city, with 2,760 residents in the county (the city extends into 1 other county). By land, Freer city is the largest at 4.123 mi².

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
San Diego cityCounty seat · Also in 1 other county2,760−8.2%1.901
Freer city2,308−7%4.123
Benavides city1,099−7.4%1.771

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

Metropolitan area

Duval County is not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area in the Office of Management and Budget’s July 2023 delineation; 1,306 other county equivalents are also outside one. These areas are built around an urban core of at least 10,000 people plus the counties tied to it by commuting, so counties outside them are generally rural.

ZIP codes

8 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Duval County; 5 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

7833278341783497835778361783727837678384

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 Duval County

Duval County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents. It has more land than 5 of them. The largest neighbor is Webb County (3,361.5 mi²) and the smallest is Jim Wells County (865.2 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Duval County forms a block of 10,279.2 mi² of land, of which it holds 17.4%.

Map of Duval County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Jim Wells County, Texas: 865.2 mi² landWebb County, Texas: 3,361.5 mi² landMcMullen County, Texas: 1,139.8 mi² landJim Hogg County, Texas: 1,136.2 mi² landBrooks County, Texas: 943.4 mi² landLive Oak County, Texas: 1,039.7 mi² land
Duval 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. DuvalCompare
Webb County3,361.51.9× largerCompare
McMullen County1,139.81.6× smallerCompare
Jim Hogg County1,136.21.6× smallerCompare
Live Oak County1,039.71.7× smallerCompare
Brooks County943.41.9× smallerCompare
Jim Wells County865.22.1× smallerCompare

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

Duval County has more land than 1 of the 50 states. It is about 1.7 times the land area of Rhode Island (1,033.9 mi²), while Delaware, the next larger state, has 1.1 times as much land (1,948.6 mi²). Texas’s county land could hold about 146 areas the size of Duval County.

Land area: Duval County and the closest-sized states
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²
Duval County1,793.5 mi²
Delaware1,948.6 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 42.3 miles (68.2 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 Duval County?

Duval County has more land than 2,890 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Duval County1,793.5 mi²
Texas median908.7 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 Duval County at #371 nationally by total area, 39 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 0.1%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 1.1 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 Duval County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#331Essex County, New York1,794.1Compare
#332Duval County, Texas1,793.5This county
#333Jefferson County, Oregon1,781.7Compare

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 27.681123, -98.497393. 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: 4,645,084,638 m²; AWATER: 5,478,266 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 Duval County?

Duval County, Texas has 1,793.5 square miles (4,645.1 km²) of land and 2.115 square miles of water, for a total area of 1,795.6 square miles. It ranks #332 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Duval County the largest county in Texas?

No. Duval County ranks #13 of 254 in Texas by land area. The largest is Brewster County, with 6,183.8 square miles of land.

What counties border Duval County?

Duval County shares a land border with Jim Wells County, Webb County, McMullen County, Jim Hogg County, Brooks County, and Live Oak County.

What is the population of Duval County?

The Census Bureau estimates Duval County had 9,402 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,529 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 5.2 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Duval County?

The county seat of Duval County is San Diego.

What cities and towns are in Duval County?

Duval County has 3 incorporated places. The most populous are San Diego city, Freer city, and Benavides city; 3,235 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Duval County part of a metropolitan area?

No. Duval County is outside every metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area in the July 2023 OMB delineation.

How many ZIP codes are in Duval County?

8 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Duval County, and 5 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

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

It has more land than 1 of the 50 states, including Rhode Island (1,033.9 square miles of land).

How many acres of land are in Duval County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 1,147,825 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 1,149,179 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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