NY · 2026 Census Gazetteer

New York counties by area

Official, comparable measurements for 62 counties and county equivalents.

Source fields preservedGEOID · ALAND · AWATER

County equivalents62

Combined land47,123.5 mi²

Combined water7,435 mi²

Largest by landSt. Lawrence County

Understanding New York’s county areas

The land-area range runs from New York County at 22.7 mi² to St. Lawrence County at 2,679.5 mi². The largest has 118.3 times the land area of the smallest and accounts for 5.7% of the combined county land in New York.

The median county-equivalent land area is 653.7 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

Suffolk County has the most assigned water area, at 1,462.4 mi². It also has the highest water share, with water making up 61.6% 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 62 entries, water accounts for 13.6% 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 New York 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	St. Lawrence CountyGEOID 36089	2,679.5 mi²	141.7 mi²	5%
2	Essex CountyGEOID 36031	1,794.1 mi²	122.1 mi²	6.4%
3	Hamilton CountyGEOID 36041	1,717.4 mi²	90.4 mi²	5%
4	Franklin CountyGEOID 36033	1,629.3 mi²	68.2 mi²	4%
5	Delaware CountyGEOID 36025	1,442.6 mi²	24.8 mi²	1.7%
6	Herkimer CountyGEOID 36043	1,410.6 mi²	46.5 mi²	3.2%
7	Steuben CountyGEOID 36101	1,390.5 mi²	13.5 mi²	1%
8	Cattaraugus CountyGEOID 36009	1,308.2 mi²	14.2 mi²	1.1%
9	Lewis CountyGEOID 36049	1,276.3 mi²	15.3 mi²	1.2%
10	Jefferson CountyGEOID 36045	1,267.9 mi²	588.6 mi²	31.7%
11	Oneida CountyGEOID 36065	1,212.4 mi²	45.3 mi²	3.6%
12	Ulster CountyGEOID 36111	1,124.2 mi²	36.5 mi²	3.1%
13	Chautauqua CountyGEOID 36013	1,060.4 mi²	439.8 mi²	29.3%
14	Erie CountyGEOID 36029	1,042.8 mi²	184.1 mi²	15%
15	Clinton CountyGEOID 36019	1,037.8 mi²	79.8 mi²	7.1%
16	Allegany CountyGEOID 36003	1,029.5 mi²	5 mi²	0.5%
17	Otsego CountyGEOID 36077	1,001.7 mi²	14 mi²	1.4%
18	Sullivan CountyGEOID 36105	968.1 mi²	28.5 mi²	2.9%
19	Oswego CountyGEOID 36075	951.6 mi²	360.4 mi²	27.5%
20	Suffolk CountyGEOID 36103	910.9 mi²	1,462.4 mi²	61.6%
21	Chenango CountyGEOID 36017	893.4 mi²	5.2 mi²	0.6%
22	Warren CountyGEOID 36113	867.2 mi²	64.4 mi²	6.9%
23	Washington CountyGEOID 36115	831.2 mi²	14.7 mi²	1.7%
24	Orange CountyGEOID 36071	812.1 mi²	26.2 mi²	3.1%
25	Saratoga CountyGEOID 36091	810 mi²	33.8 mi²	4%
26	Dutchess CountyGEOID 36027	795.6 mi²	29.7 mi²	3.6%
27	Onondaga CountyGEOID 36067	778.4 mi²	27.2 mi²	3.4%
28	Broome CountyGEOID 36007	705.7 mi²	9.7 mi²	1.4%
29	Cayuga CountyGEOID 36011	691.6 mi²	172.1 mi²	19.9%
30	Monroe CountyGEOID 36055	657 mi²	709.8 mi²	51.9%
31	Madison CountyGEOID 36053	654.9 mi²	6.4 mi²	1%
32	Rensselaer CountyGEOID 36083	652.5 mi²	12.9 mi²	1.9%
33	Greene CountyGEOID 36039	647.2 mi²	10.9 mi²	1.7%
34	Ontario CountyGEOID 36069	644 mi²	18.5 mi²	2.8%
35	Columbia CountyGEOID 36021	634.7 mi²	13.5 mi²	2.1%
36	Livingston CountyGEOID 36051	631.7 mi²	8.5 mi²	1.3%
37	Schoharie CountyGEOID 36095	621.8 mi²	4.5 mi²	0.7%
38	Wayne CountyGEOID 36117	603.8 mi²	779.2 mi²	56.3%
39	Wyoming CountyGEOID 36121	592.7 mi²	3.5 mi²	0.6%
40	Albany CountyGEOID 36001	522.9 mi²	10.4 mi²	2%
41	Niagara CountyGEOID 36063	522.3 mi²	617.3 mi²	54.2%
42	Tioga CountyGEOID 36107	518.8 mi²	4.3 mi²	0.8%
43	Cortland CountyGEOID 36023	498.8 mi²	2.7 mi²	0.5%
44	Fulton CountyGEOID 36035	495.5 mi²	37.4 mi²	7%
45	Genesee CountyGEOID 36037	493 mi²	2.4 mi²	0.5%
46	Tompkins CountyGEOID 36109	474.7 mi²	16.9 mi²	3.4%
47	Westchester CountyGEOID 36119	430.8 mi²	69.3 mi²	13.9%
48	Chemung CountyGEOID 36015	407.3 mi²	3.4 mi²	0.8%
49	Montgomery CountyGEOID 36057	403.1 mi²	7.2 mi²	1.8%
50	Orleans CountyGEOID 36073	391.3 mi²	426.2 mi²	52.1%
51	Yates CountyGEOID 36123	338.2 mi²	37.6 mi²	10%
52	Schuyler CountyGEOID 36097	328.3 mi²	14 mi²	4.1%
53	Seneca CountyGEOID 36099	323.7 mi²	66.7 mi²	17.1%
54	Nassau CountyGEOID 36059	284.5 mi²	168.8 mi²	37.2%
55	Putnam CountyGEOID 36079	230.3 mi²	15.9 mi²	6.5%
56	Schenectady CountyGEOID 36093	204.7 mi²	4.8 mi²	2.3%
57	Rockland CountyGEOID 36087	173.7 mi²	25.8 mi²	12.9%
58	Queens CountyGEOID 36081	108.7 mi²	72.8 mi²	40.1%
59	Kings CountyGEOID 36047	69.4 mi²	27.5 mi²	28.4%
60	Richmond CountyGEOID 36085	57.5 mi²	45.3 mi²	44.1%
61	Bronx CountyGEOID 36005	42.2 mi²	15.2 mi²	26.4%
62	New York CountyGEOID 36061	22.7 mi²	11.2 mi²	33.1%

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.