Half of the U.S. lives in these 146 counties – is yours one of them?

Usingpublicly available Census data , Business Insider ’s Walter Hickey and Joe Weisenthal have deduced thatover half of America ’s population is localized to a mere 146 of the 3,144 U.S. counties and county - equivalent .

Of course , some county contain way more people per square mile than others , and some county are giant , while others are small . At only around 13 square nautical mile , Hawaii ’s Kalawao County is the smallest . San Bernardino County ( the hugest , honking - est blue county in California in the map up top ) is technically the largest county proper , with a land area of 20,052.5 square nautical mile – but thing get interesting if you let in Alaska’sboroughs and nose count area , which dish out as county equivalents for the purposes of the U.S. Census . In that case , the award for large county unquestionably go to the Yokon - Koyukuk Census Area , which has a land area of over 145,000 satisfying miles . For a sense of scale , that ’s more than the full land area of Germany .

These are all factors that touch on what Hickey and Weisenthal were ultimately concerned in : the entire number of people per county . On a county - by - county cornerstone that may not voice terribly interesting , but when you color in all 146 of them , the remnant regions turn out to be a pure sea of grey – a land mass that , collectively , lark about a universe density that is positively dwarf by its amobarbital sodium - imbue opposite number .

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Did your county make the list ? Listed below is the full list of all 146 . And just for playfulness , we ’ve thrown in the 50 most densely populated counties in the U.S. , along with the 50 least dumbly populated county ( remember : density is a different metric than total numeral ) . While we ’re on the guinea pig , here ’s the Wikipedia page on U.S. county statistics .

We ’d be very peculiar to see an animation depict how this population distribution has change over sentence , or a map that shade in the counties making up 60 % , 75 % , or 90 % of the population ; looking at this map , one ca n’t serve but wonder just how sparsely populated Rural America really is .

The 146 Most Populous Counties

Los Angeles County , CACook County , ILHarris County , TXMaricopa County , AZSan Diego County , CAOrange County , CAMiami - Dade County , FLKings County , NYDallas County , TXQueens County , NYRiverside County , CASan Bernardino County , CAKing County , WAClark County , NVTarrant County , TXSanta Clara County , CABroward County , FLWayne County , MIBexar County , TXNew York County , NYAlameda County , CAPhiladelphia County , PAMiddlesex County , MASuffolk County , NYSacramento County , CABronx County , NYPalm Beach County , FLNassau County , NYHillsborough County , FLCuyahoga County , OHAllegheny County , PAOakland County , MIOrange County , FLFranklin County , OHHennepin County , MNFairfax County , VATravis County , TXContra Costa County , CASalt Lake County , UTMontgomery County , MDSt . Louis County , MOPima County , AZFulton County , GAHonolulu County , HIMecklenburg County , NCWestchester County , NYMilwaukee County , WIWake County , NCFresno County , CAShelby County , TNFairfield County , CTDuPage County , ILPinellas County , FLErie County , NYMarion County , INBergen County , NJHartford County , CTPrince George ’s County , MDDuval County , FLNew Haven County , CTKern County , CAMacomb County , MIGwinnett County , GAVentura County , CACollin County , TXEl Paso County , TXSan Francisco County , CAMiddlesex County , NJBaltimore County , MDPierce County , WAMontgomery County , PAHidalgo County , TXWorcester County , MAHamilton County , OHEssex County , NJMultnomah County , OREssex County , MAJefferson County , KYMonroe County , NYSuffolk County , MAOklahoma County , OKSan Mateo County , CASnohomish County , WACobb County , GADenton County , TXDeKalb County , GASan Joaquin County , CALake County , ILWill County , ILNorfolk County , MAJackson County , MOBernalillo County , NMJefferson County , ALHudson County , NJDavidson County , TNLee County , FLEl Paso County , CODenver County , CODistrict of Columbia , DCMonmouth County , NJProvidence County , RIFort Bend County , TXBucks County , PABaltimore urban center , MDPolk County , FLKent County , MITulsa County , OKArapahoe County , COOcean County , NJDelaware County , PAJohnson County , KSBristol County , MAAnne Arundel County , MDWashington County , ORBrevard County , FLNew Castle County , DEJefferson County , COUnion County , NJSummit County , OHUtah County , UTMontgomery County , OHDouglas County , NELancaster County , PAKane County , ILStanislaus County , CARamsey County , MNCamden County , NJChester County , PASedgwick County , KSDane County , WIPassaic County , NJGuilford County , NCPlymouth County , MAMorris County , NJVolusia County , FLLake County , INSonoma County , CAMontgomery County , TXSpokane County , WARichmond County , NYPasco County , FLGreenville County , SCOnondaga County , NYHampden County , MAAdams County , COWilliamson County , TX