Alabama Counties Map: Click All 67 Counties

How many counties are in Alabama?

Alabama has 67 counties. 19 states have more, and 28 have fewer.

Alabama's counties run from the Tennessee Valley in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Only two counties, Mobile and Baldwin, touch the Gulf, one on each side of Mobile Bay. Huntsville, in Madison County, passed Birmingham as the state's largest city in the 2020 Census.

How Alabama's counties were formed

Alabama's county map is older than the state. Washington County, created in 1800 when the area was part of the Mississippi Territory, is the oldest. Counties multiplied as treaties opened Creek and Cherokee land in the 1810s and 1830s, and the last one, Houston County in the Wiregrass, was carved out of Henry, Dale and Geneva counties in 1903, bringing the total to 67.

Alabama regions and the counties in each

Children can learn Alabama in five bands. The Tennessee Valley counties (Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison, Jackson) sit across the top. The Appalachian foothills and ridges run southwest through DeKalb, Etowah and Jefferson, where Birmingham grew up on iron and coal. The Black Belt, named for its dark, rich soil, crosses the middle through Dallas, Lowndes, Perry, Sumter and Montgomery counties. The Wiregrass fills the southeast corner around Dothan (Houston County), and Mobile and Baldwin counties make up the Gulf Coast.

Notable places on the Alabama county map

Cheaha Mountain, the state's highest point at 2,407 feet, rises in Cleburne County inside Cheaha State Park. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville (Madison County) displays Saturn V rockets built for the Apollo missions. Little River Canyon cuts through DeKalb and Cherokee counties on Lookout Mountain, and Gulf State Park and the white-sand beaches of Gulf Shores are in Baldwin County.

Alabama counties map: the biggest and smallest

Baldwin County is the largest county in Alabama, with 1,590 square miles of land, about 3% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Rhode Island. Etowah County is the smallest, at 535 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Etowah County (535 sq mi), Cherokee County (554 sq mi) and Limestone County (560 sq mi).

Which counties in Alabama have the most people?

Jefferson County has the most people, about 664,744 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 13% of everyone in Alabama. The three biggest counties together hold 29% of the state's 5,157,699 people. Greene County has the fewest, about 7,127.

The most crowded is Jefferson County, with about 598 people per square mile. The emptiest is Perry County, with about 11 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Montgomery in?

Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, is in Montgomery County. Montgomery County ranks 7th of 67 by population. Alabama is called the Yellowhammer State, and it became the 22nd state in 1819.

Counties on the Alabama border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Alabama shares a border with Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

How Alabama's counties compare with other states

Alabama ranks 28th among the 50 states in land area and 24th in population. Its average county covers about 756 square miles and holds about 76,981 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Alabama's counties are smaller than usual in size. Small counties pack more names into the same space, so zooming in helps.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Alabama

• The Tennessee River curves across the northern counties, including Madison, Morgan and Lauderdale.
• Mobile and Baldwin counties sit at the bottom of the map on either side of Mobile Bay.
• Montgomery County, home of the capital, is in the middle of the state's southern half, in the Black Belt.

With 67 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the Alabama county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 67 Alabama counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Alabama geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Southeast states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in alabama, and check alabama school choice to see whether a program may help pay for Alabama history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.