Oregon Counties Map: Click All 36 Counties

How many counties are in Oregon?

Oregon has 36 counties. 33 states have more, and 16 have fewer.

Oregon has 36 counties. Multnomah County, home to Portland, is the smallest by land but has the most people. Harney County, in the dry high desert of the southeast, is the largest, bigger than nine states.

How Oregon's counties were formed

Oregon's provisional government created four districts in 1843: Twality, Yamhill, Clackamas and Champoeg. They became counties, Twality was renamed Washington and Champoeg became Marion. Counties spread up the Willamette Valley, then east over the Cascades with ranching and railroads. Deschutes County, split from Crook County in 1916, was the 36th and last.

Oregon regions and the counties in each

Oregon divides into regions most people know. The Coast runs from Clatsop (Astoria) to Curry. The Willamette Valley holds Multnomah (Portland), Washington, Clackamas, Marion (Salem), Benton and Lane (Eugene). Southern Oregon includes Jackson (Medford) and Josephine. Central Oregon is Deschutes (Bend), Crook and Jefferson, east of the Cascades, with Klamath County and Crater Lake to the south. Eastern Oregon's high desert and Blue Mountains cover Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Baker, Grant, Harney and Malheur.

Notable places on the Oregon county map

Mount Hood, the state's highest point at 11,239 feet, sits on the line between Clackamas and Hood River counties. Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States, fills a collapsed volcano in Klamath County. Multnomah Falls drops beside the Columbia River Gorge in Multnomah County, and the Painted Hills, part of John Day Fossil Beds, are in Wheeler County.

Oregon counties map: the biggest and smallest

Harney County is the largest county in Oregon, with 10,134 square miles of land, about 11% of the state. That's more land than 9 whole states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and others. Multnomah County is the smallest, at 431 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Multnomah County (431 sq mi), Hood River County (522 sq mi) and Columbia County (659 sq mi).

Which counties in Oregon have the most people?

Multnomah County has the most people, about 795,897 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 19% of everyone in Oregon. The three biggest counties together hold 43% of the state's 4,272,371 people. Wheeler County has the fewest, about 1,456.

The most crowded is Multnomah County, with about 1,846 people per square mile. The emptiest is Harney County, with less than one person 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 Salem in?

Salem, the capital of Oregon, is in Marion County. Marion County ranks 5th of 36 by population. Oregon is called the Beaver State, and it became the 33rd state in 1859.

Counties on the Oregon border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Oregon shares a border with California, Idaho, Nevada and Washington.

How Oregon's counties compare with other states

Oregon ranks 10th among the 50 states in land area and 27th in population. Its average county covers about 2,667 square miles and holds about 118,677 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Oregon's counties are bigger than usual in size. Bigger counties mean fewer names to learn for a state this size.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Oregon

• The Willamette Valley counties (Multnomah, Washington, Marion, Lane) hold most of the people.
• Marion County holds the capital, Salem.
• The eastern counties, including Harney and Malheur, cover the high desert.

With 36 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 Oregon county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 36 Oregon counties

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

Oregon geography for homeschoolers

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