Mingo County area

Mingo County, West Virginia covers 424 square miles: 423.1 square miles of land and 0.833 square miles of water. Its county seat is Williamson. An estimated 21,455 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 540592026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area423.1 mi²
Water area0.833 mi²
Population (2025)21,455
People per mi²51

County outline

Generalized outline of Mingo 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 Mingo County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.8% of Mingo County’s measured area and water for 0.2%. Its combined area converts to 1,098 square kilometers or approximately 271,331 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land423.1211,095.878270,797.4
Water0.8332.157533.1
Total423.9541,098.036271,330.6

How Mingo County compares

By original Census land area, Mingo County ranks #26 of 55 in West Virginia and #2395 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.01 times the West Virginia county-equivalent median of 419 square miles. It accounts for 1.8% 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 Mingo County

The Census Bureau estimates that 21,455 people lived in Mingo County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #1,809 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #27 of 55 in West Virginia. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 23,572, the population has declined by 2,117 (−9%), compared with −1.5% for West Virginia as a whole.

With 423.1 square miles of land, that is 51 people per square mile (20 per km²), placing Mingo County #1,534 nationally for density and #27 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 13 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate23,48923,06222,43321,99621,68021,455
Change—−427−629−437−316−225

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 Mingo County

5 incorporated places lie at least partly in Mingo County. Together they are home to 4,091 people (19.1%); the other 17,364 (80.9%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Williamson city, with 2,753 residents in the county.

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Williamson cityCounty seat2,753−10.7%3.275
Delbarton town381−9.3%1.987
Matewan town370−10%0.553
Gilbert town301−8.5%0.995
Kermit town286−9.5%0.392

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

Metropolitan area

Mingo 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

20 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Mingo County; 18 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

2484624851256082562125650256512566125666256672567025671256722567425676256782568525688256902569225696

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 Mingo County

Mingo County shares a land border with 8 county equivalents, including 3 in Kentucky and Virginia. It has more land than 1 of them. The largest neighbor is Pike County (786.2 mi²) and the smallest is Martin County (229.6 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Mingo County forms a block of 4,370.8 mi² of land, of which it holds 9.7%.

Map of Mingo County and the 8 county equivalents that border it Logan County, West Virginia: 452.9 mi² landPike County, Kentucky: 786.2 mi² landMartin County, Kentucky: 229.6 mi² landWayne County, West Virginia: 506 mi² landWyoming County, West Virginia: 499.5 mi² landLincoln County, West Virginia: 437.1 mi² landMcDowell County, West Virginia: 533.5 mi² landBuchanan County, Virginia: 502.9 mi² land
Mingo 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. MingoCompare
Pike CountyKentucky786.21.9× largerCompare
McDowell County533.51.3× largerCompare
Wayne County5061.2× largerCompare
Buchanan CountyVirginia502.91.2× largerCompare
Wyoming County499.51.2× largerCompare
Logan County452.91.1× largerCompare
Lincoln County437.1about the sameCompare
Martin CountyKentucky229.61.8× smallerCompare

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

Mingo County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 2.4 times as much. West Virginia’s county land could hold about 57 areas the size of Mingo County.

Land area: Mingo County and the closest-sized states
Mingo County423.1 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 20.6 miles (33.1 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 Mingo County?

Mingo County has more land than 827 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Mingo County423.1 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 Mingo County at #2,472 nationally by total area, 77 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 0.2%, 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 Mingo County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2394Waseca County, Minnesota423.4Compare
#2395Mingo County, West Virginia423.1This county
#2396Ashland County, Ohio423Compare

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 37.721161, -82.158989. 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: 1,095,877,996 m²; AWATER: 2,156,358 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 Mingo County?

Mingo County, West Virginia has 423.1 square miles (1,095.9 km²) of land and 0.833 square miles of water, for a total area of 424 square miles. It ranks #2395 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Mingo County the largest county in West Virginia?

No. Mingo County ranks #26 of 55 in West Virginia by land area. The largest is Randolph County, with 1,039.7 square miles of land.

What counties border Mingo County?

Mingo County shares a land border with Logan County, Pike County, Kentucky, Martin County, Kentucky, Wayne County, Wyoming County, Lincoln County, McDowell County, and Buchanan County, Virginia.

What is the population of Mingo County?

The Census Bureau estimates Mingo County had 21,455 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #1,809 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 51 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Mingo County?

The county seat of Mingo County is Williamson.

What cities and towns are in Mingo County?

Mingo County has 5 incorporated places. The most populous are Williamson city, Delbarton town, Matewan town, Gilbert town, and Kermit town; 17,364 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Mingo County part of a metropolitan area?

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

How many ZIP codes are in Mingo County?

20 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Mingo County, and 18 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

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

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 2.4 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Mingo County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 270,797 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 271,331 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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