AR · 2026 Census Gazetteer

Arkansas counties by area

Official, comparable measurements for 75 counties and county equivalents.

Source fields preservedGEOID · ALAND · AWATER

County equivalents75

Combined land51,992.1 mi²

Combined water1,205.6 mi²

Largest by landUnion County

Understanding Arkansas’s county areas

The land-area range runs from Lafayette County at 529.5 mi² to Union County at 1,039.1 mi². The largest has 2 times the land area of the smallest and accounts for 2% of the combined county land in Arkansas.

The median county-equivalent land area is 647.2 mi², above the national median of 604.5 mi². The median describes the middle of the county size distribution; it does not describe how people or development are distributed. A state with a few very large counties can have a much smaller median than its largest entry suggests.

Where water changes the picture

Desha County has the most assigned water area, at 71.5 mi². It also has the highest water share, with water making up 8.8% of its total area. Water area and water percentage answer different questions: the first measures an amount, while the second measures the mix of land and water.

Across all 75 entries, water accounts for 2.3% of the combined total area. This is calculated from the summed land and water measurements, rather than averaging county percentages, which would give each small and large county equal weight.

Compare the largest and smallest county equivalents in Arkansas to see land, water, and total area on the same scale.

These calculations use the 2026 Census county records listed below. County-equivalent boundaries vary between states; area alone does not measure population, density, or usable land. See coverage and calculation rules.

Complete area table

Sorted from largest to smallest land area.

#	County / equivalent	Land	Water	Water share
1	Union CountyGEOID 05139	1,039.1 mi²	16.3 mi²	1.5%
2	White CountyGEOID 05145	1,034 mi²	8 mi²	0.8%
3	Arkansas CountyGEOID 05001	992.1 mi²	46.6 mi²	4.5%
4	Washington CountyGEOID 05143	941.5 mi²	10.8 mi²	1.1%
5	Yell CountyGEOID 05149	930.4 mi²	18.1 mi²	1.9%
6	Ashley CountyGEOID 05003	925.5 mi²	14.9 mi²	1.6%
7	Mississippi CountyGEOID 05093	902.1 mi²	27.9 mi²	3%
8	Scott CountyGEOID 05127	892.9 mi²	5.6 mi²	0.6%
9	Jefferson CountyGEOID 05069	872.3 mi²	43.7 mi²	4.8%
10	Clark CountyGEOID 05019	866 mi²	17 mi²	1.9%
11	Polk CountyGEOID 05113	856.8 mi²	4.8 mi²	0.6%
12	Benton CountyGEOID 05007	847.7 mi²	36.6 mi²	4.1%
13	Madison CountyGEOID 05087	834.3 mi²	2.8 mi²	0.3%
14	Drew CountyGEOID 05043	828.7 mi²	7.3 mi²	0.9%
15	Newton CountyGEOID 05101	821.1 mi²	2.3 mi²	0.3%
16	Pope CountyGEOID 05115	811 mi²	19.6 mi²	2.4%
17	Montgomery CountyGEOID 05097	780.5 mi²	20.5 mi²	2.6%
18	Lonoke CountyGEOID 05085	771.7 mi²	31.7 mi²	3.9%
19	Columbia CountyGEOID 05027	766.1 mi²	0.8 mi²	0.1%
20	Independence CountyGEOID 05063	763.7 mi²	7.8 mi²	1%
21	Pulaski CountyGEOID 05119	758.4 mi²	49 mi²	6.1%
22	Poinsett CountyGEOID 05111	758.3 mi²	5.4 mi²	0.7%
23	Desha CountyGEOID 05041	741.2 mi²	71.5 mi²	8.8%
24	Ouachita CountyGEOID 05103	732.7 mi²	7 mi²	0.9%
25	Hempstead CountyGEOID 05057	727.2 mi²	13.8 mi²	1.9%
26	Saline CountyGEOID 05125	723.5 mi²	6.9 mi²	0.9%
27	Van Buren CountyGEOID 05141	709.6 mi²	14.4 mi²	2%
28	Logan CountyGEOID 05083	709.1 mi²	20.8 mi²	2.9%
29	Craighead CountyGEOID 05031	707.2 mi²	5.5 mi²	0.8%
30	Phillips CountyGEOID 05107	690.4 mi²	37.1 mi²	5.1%
31	Garland CountyGEOID 05051	677.6 mi²	56.9 mi²	7.8%
32	Dallas CountyGEOID 05039	667.3 mi²	0.7 mi²	0.1%
33	Searcy CountyGEOID 05129	665.9 mi²	2.5 mi²	0.4%
34	Johnson CountyGEOID 05071	661 mi²	23 mi²	3.4%
35	Randolph CountyGEOID 05121	651.9 mi²	4 mi²	0.6%
36	Bradley CountyGEOID 05011	649.2 mi²	3.7 mi²	0.6%
37	Prairie CountyGEOID 05117	647.5 mi²	28 mi²	4.2%
38	Faulkner CountyGEOID 05045	647.2 mi²	16.8 mi²	2.5%
39	Clay CountyGEOID 05021	639.2 mi²	2.1 mi²	0.3%
40	Chicot CountyGEOID 05017	637 mi²	54.2 mi²	7.8%
41	St. Francis CountyGEOID 05123	634.8 mi²	7.7 mi²	1.2%
42	Jackson CountyGEOID 05067	633.6 mi²	7.8 mi²	1.2%
43	Grant CountyGEOID 05053	631.9 mi²	1.1 mi²	0.2%
44	Carroll CountyGEOID 05015	629.9 mi²	8.8 mi²	1.4%
45	Calhoun CountyGEOID 05013	628.6 mi²	3.8 mi²	0.6%
46	Miller CountyGEOID 05091	624.1 mi²	14.2 mi²	2.2%
47	Fulton CountyGEOID 05049	618 mi²	2.5 mi²	0.4%
48	Nevada CountyGEOID 05099	617.8 mi²	2.9 mi²	0.5%
49	Cross CountyGEOID 05037	616.3 mi²	5.9 mi²	1%
50	Hot Spring CountyGEOID 05059	614.9 mi²	7.2 mi²	1.2%
51	Crittenden CountyGEOID 05035	611.8 mi²	32 mi²	5%
52	Franklin CountyGEOID 05047	609 mi²	11.1 mi²	1.8%
53	Monroe CountyGEOID 05095	607.5 mi²	13.8 mi²	2.2%
54	Stone CountyGEOID 05137	606.4 mi²	3.1 mi²	0.5%
55	Sharp CountyGEOID 05135	604.6 mi²	2 mi²	0.3%
56	Pike CountyGEOID 05109	600.3 mi²	13.6 mi²	2.2%
57	Lee CountyGEOID 05077	599.8 mi²	22.3 mi²	3.6%
58	Cleveland CountyGEOID 05025	597.9 mi²	1 mi²	0.2%
59	Marion CountyGEOID 05089	596.6 mi²	43.6 mi²	6.8%
60	Crawford CountyGEOID 05033	595.3 mi²	10.4 mi²	1.7%
61	Boone CountyGEOID 05009	589.7 mi²	12.3 mi²	2%
62	Lawrence CountyGEOID 05075	587.5 mi²	4.8 mi²	0.8%
63	Howard CountyGEOID 05061	587.3 mi²	8.2 mi²	1.4%
64	Woodruff CountyGEOID 05147	586 mi²	8.1 mi²	1.4%
65	Izard CountyGEOID 05065	580.2 mi²	3.7 mi²	0.6%
66	Greene CountyGEOID 05055	577.4 mi²	2 mi²	0.3%
67	Sevier CountyGEOID 05133	563.6 mi²	17.7 mi²	3.1%
68	Lincoln CountyGEOID 05079	559.5 mi²	10.3 mi²	1.8%
69	Cleburne CountyGEOID 05023	554 mi²	38.2 mi²	6.4%
70	Baxter CountyGEOID 05005	553.9 mi²	32.8 mi²	5.6%
71	Conway CountyGEOID 05029	552 mi²	14.5 mi²	2.6%
72	Perry CountyGEOID 05105	551.3 mi²	9.4 mi²	1.7%
73	Little River CountyGEOID 05081	531.3 mi²	32.1 mi²	5.7%
74	Sebastian CountyGEOID 05131	531.2 mi²	13.3 mi²	2.4%
75	Lafayette CountyGEOID 05073	529.5 mi²	16.6 mi²	3%

How to read this table. Land and water areas are Census statistical measurements in square miles. Adding county rows can differ slightly from separately published state totals because of rounding and geographic treatment.