Harrison County area

Harrison County, West Virginia covers 416.5 square miles: 416 square miles of land and 0.507 square miles of water. Its county seat is Clarksburg. An estimated 64,221 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 540332026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area416 mi²
Water area0.507 mi²
Population (2025)64,221
People per mi²154

County outline

Generalized outline of Harrison County, West 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 Harrison County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.9% of Harrison County’s measured area and water for 0.1%. Its combined area converts to 1,078.8 square kilometers or approximately 266,571 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land416.011,077.461266,246.4
Water0.5071.313324.5
Total416.5171,078.774266,570.9

How Harrison County compares

By original Census land area, Harrison County ranks #29 of 55 in West Virginia and #2431 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.993 times the West Virginia county-equivalent median of 419 square miles. It accounts for 1.7% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Harrison County

The Census Bureau estimates that 64,221 people lived in Harrison County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #863 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #7 of 55 in West Virginia. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 65,919, the population has declined by 1,698 (−2.6%), compared with −1.5% for West Virginia as a whole.

With 416 square miles of land, that is 154 people per square mile (60 per km²), placing Harrison County #764 nationally for density and #12 in West Virginia. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the West Virginia median is 45. Put another way, there are about 4.1 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate65,84665,43964,70664,55064,42664,221
Change—−407−733−156−124−205

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 Harrison County

10 incorporated places lie at least partly in Harrison County. Together they are home to 33,930 people (52.8%); the other 30,291 (47.2%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Clarksburg city, with 15,562 residents in the county. By land, Bridgeport city is the largest at 10.6 mi². Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Bridgeport city grew fastest since then (+2%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Clarksburg cityCounty seat15,562−4.7%10.4
Bridgeport city9,427+2%10.6
Shinnston city2,241−3%1.665
Stonewood city1,743−3.9%0.824
Salem city1,570−3.8%2.032
Nutter Fort town1,451−3.4%0.898
Lumberport town648−4.1%0.502
Anmoore town482−4%1.059
West Milford town443−2.6%0.527
Lost Creek town363−4%1.208

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

Metropolitan area

Harrison County is a central county of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 3 county equivalents have 88,142 residents on 908.5 square miles of land; Harrison County accounts for 45.8% of the land and 72.9% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #208 of 542 micropolitan areas, and #53 by population. It belongs to the Fairmont-Clarksburg, WV Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Harrison County64,221416
Taylor County16,287172.8
Doddridge County7,634319.7

ZIP codes

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

26301263232633026361263662636926378263852638626404264082642226426264312643826448264512646326554265682658226591

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 Harrison County

Harrison County shares a land border with 7 county equivalents. It has more land than every one of them. The largest neighbor is Lewis County (386.9 mi²) and the smallest is Taylor County (172.8 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Harrison County forms a block of 2,658 mi² of land, of which it holds 15.7%.

Map of Harrison County and the 7 county equivalents that border it Doddridge County, West Virginia: 319.7 mi² landMarion County, West Virginia: 308.8 mi² landLewis County, West Virginia: 386.9 mi² landTaylor County, West Virginia: 172.8 mi² landBarbour County, West Virginia: 341.1 mi² landWetzel County, West Virginia: 358.1 mi² landUpshur County, West Virginia: 354.6 mi² land
Harrison 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. HarrisonCompare
Lewis County386.91.1× smallerCompare
Wetzel County358.11.2× smallerCompare
Upshur County354.61.2× smallerCompare
Barbour County341.11.2× smallerCompare
Doddridge County319.71.3× smallerCompare
Marion County308.81.3× smallerCompare
Taylor County172.82.4× smallerCompare

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

Harrison County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 2.5 times as much. West Virginia’s county land could hold about 58 areas the size of Harrison County.

Land area: Harrison County and the closest-sized states
Harrison County416 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 20.4 miles (32.8 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 Harrison County?

Harrison County has more land than 791 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Harrison County416 mi²
West Virginia median419 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 Harrison County at #2,507 nationally by total area, 76 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 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 Harrison County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2430Henry County, Ohio416Compare
#2431Harrison County, West Virginia416This county
#2432Union County, Mississippi415.6Compare

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 39.279148, -80.385821. 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: 1,077,461,965 m²; AWATER: 1,313,215 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 Harrison County?

Harrison County, West Virginia has 416 square miles (1,077.5 km²) of land and 0.507 square miles of water, for a total area of 416.5 square miles. It ranks #2431 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Harrison County the largest county in West Virginia?

No. Harrison County ranks #29 of 55 in West Virginia by land area. The largest is Randolph County, with 1,039.7 square miles of land.

What counties border Harrison County?

Harrison County shares a land border with Doddridge County, Marion County, Lewis County, Taylor County, Barbour County, Wetzel County, and Upshur County.

What is the population of Harrison County?

The Census Bureau estimates Harrison County had 64,221 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #863 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 154 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Harrison County?

The county seat of Harrison County is Clarksburg.

What cities and towns are in Harrison County?

Harrison County has 10 incorporated places. The most populous five are Clarksburg city, Bridgeport city, Shinnston city, Stonewood city, and Salem city; 30,291 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Harrison County part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is a central county of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area, which has 3 county equivalents and 88,142 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Harrison County?

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

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

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 2.5 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Harrison County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 266,246 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 266,571 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