VA · GEOID 51159

Richmond County area

Richmond County, Virginia covers 216.4 square miles: 191.5 square miles of land and 24.9 square miles of water.

Official Census measurements2026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area191.5 mi²
Water area24.9 mi²
Total area216.4 mi²
National land rank#3011

County outline

Generalized outline of Richmond County, Virginia
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 Richmond County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 88.5% of Richmond County’s measured area and water for 11.5%. Its combined area converts to 560.4 square kilometers or approximately 138,474 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land191.478495.926122,545.9
Water24.88864.4615,928.3
Total216.366560.385138,474.2

How Richmond County compares

By original Census land area, Richmond County ranks #87 of 133 in Virginia and #3011 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.618 times the Virginia county-equivalent median of 310 square miles. It accounts for 0.5% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

What stands out about Richmond County?

Richmond County has more land than 211 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Richmond County191.5 mi²
Virginia median310 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 Richmond County at #3,000 nationally by total area, 11 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 11.5%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 10.3 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 Richmond County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#3010New Hanover County, North Carolina192.3Compare
#3011Richmond County, Virginia191.5This county
#3012Northumberland County, Virginia191.4Compare

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 37.942894, -76.730561. 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: 495,925,425 m²; AWATER: 64,458,630 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 Richmond County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 122,546 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 138,474 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