Massachusetts Counties Map: Click All 14 Counties

How many counties are in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts has 14 counties. 43 states have more, and 5 have fewer.

Massachusetts has 14 counties, but since 1997 several of them have abolished their county governments and handed the work to the state. The counties still matter for courts, deeds and maps. Suffolk County, home to Boston, holds the capital.

The state's counties line up from west to east: Berkshire on the New York border, then the Connecticut River Valley counties (Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden), Worcester in the middle, and the crowded eastern counties around Boston. Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket make up the three island and cape counties in the southeast, which children usually find first because of their shapes.

How Massachusetts's counties were formed

The Massachusetts Bay Colony created its first four counties, called shires, in 1643: Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk and an early Norfolk County. Plymouth, Barnstable and Bristol counties began in Plymouth Colony in 1685. Hampden County, split from Hampshire County in 1812, was the 14th and last. Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Norfolk and Plymouth counties still have county governments today.

Massachusetts regions and the counties in each

Massachusetts lines up from west to east. The Berkshires are Berkshire County. The Pioneer Valley follows the Connecticut River through Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties (Springfield). Central Massachusetts is Worcester County, the largest. Greater Boston includes Suffolk, Middlesex, Norfolk and Essex, with the North Shore in Essex County. The South Coast is Bristol County (New Bedford, Fall River), and Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties curve out into the sea in the southeast.

Notable places on the Massachusetts county map

Mount Greylock, the state's highest point at 3,491 feet, is in Berkshire County. Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II are in Plymouth County, and Minute Man National Historical Park, where the American Revolution began in 1775, is in Lexington and Concord in Middlesex County. Cape Cod National Seashore covers the outer Cape in Barnstable County. Boston, in Suffolk County, holds the Freedom Trail, and Springfield, in Hampden County, is where basketball was invented in 1891.

Massachusetts counties map: the biggest and smallest

Worcester County is the largest county in Massachusetts, with 1,511 square miles of land, about 19% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Rhode Island. Nantucket County is the smallest, at 46 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Nantucket County (46 sq mi), Suffolk County (58 sq mi) and Dukes County (103 sq mi).

Which counties in Massachusetts have the most people?

Middlesex County has the most people, about 1,668,956 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 23% of everyone in Massachusetts. The three biggest counties together hold 47% of the state's 7,136,171 people. Nantucket County has the fewest, about 14,670.

The most crowded is Suffolk County, with about 13,605 people per square mile. The emptiest is Franklin County, with about 101 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 Boston in?

Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, is in Suffolk County. Suffolk County ranks 4th of 14 by population. Massachusetts is called the Bay State, and it became the 6th state in 1788.

Counties on the Massachusetts border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Massachusetts shares a border with Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

How Massachusetts's counties compare with other states

Massachusetts ranks 45th among the 50 states in land area and 16th in population. Its average county covers about 557 square miles and holds about 509,727 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Massachusetts'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 Massachusetts

• Berkshire County is the western end, in the Berkshire Hills next to New York.
• Barnstable County is Cape Cod, the hook on the eastern side.
• Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard) and Nantucket County are islands south of the Cape.

With 14 counties, you can take on the whole map at once in a Practice round. Then print the Massachusetts county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 14 Massachusetts counties

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

Massachusetts geography for homeschoolers

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