Alaska county geography overview
Alaska has 30 boroughs and census areas, which places it 36th among the 50 state and District of Columbia maps in this atlas when ordered by number of county-level units. Their combined 571,390 square miles of land place the state 1st by mapped land area.
The average county-level area is 19,046 square miles, while the median is 7,482 square miles. The median is often the better description of a typical unit because one or two very large areas can pull the average upward. The five largest units together account for about 59% of the state’s mapped land area.
Largest and smallest Alaska boroughs and census areas
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area is the largest county-level unit by land area at 145,767.5 square miles. It represents about 26% of all mapped land in Alaska. At the other end of the range, Skagway Municipality has 442.9 square miles of land.
Largest by land area
- Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area145,767.5 sq mi
- North Slope Borough88,792.8 sq mi
- Bethel Census Area40,654.9 sq mi
- Northwest Arctic Borough35,671.7 sq mi
- Southeast Fairbanks Census Area24,839.2 sq mi
Smallest by land area
- Skagway Municipality442.9 sq mi
- Bristol Bay Borough481.4 sq mi
- Anchorage Municipality1,706.8 sq mi
- Haines Borough2,334.9 sq mi
- Wrangell City and Borough2,556.1 sq mi
Rankings use land area rather than total area. This avoids making coastal or lake counties appear larger solely because their boundaries include extensive water.
Alphabetical list of Alaska boroughs and census areas
The table is alphabetical, so it works as a name and FIPS-code reference rather than an area ranking. Every identifier begins with the Alaska state FIPS prefix 02. Land and water figures are rounded to one decimal place.
30 county-level areas
Download county data / numbered map key (CSV)| No. | Name | FIPS code | Land area | Water area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleutians East Borough | 02013 | 6,985.4 sq mi | 8,030.8 sq mi |
| 2 | Aleutians West Census Area | 02016 | 4,387.4 sq mi | 9,729.1 sq mi |
| 3 | Anchorage Municipality | 02020 | 1,706.8 sq mi | 237.7 sq mi |
| 4 | Bethel Census Area | 02050 | 40,654.9 sq mi | 4,900.7 sq mi |
| 5 | Bristol Bay Borough | 02060 | 481.4 sq mi | 367.6 sq mi |
| 6 | Chugach Census Area | 02063 | 9,574.3 sq mi | 5,613.5 sq mi |
| 7 | Copper River Census Area | 02066 | 24,647.4 sq mi | 470 sq mi |
| 8 | Denali Borough | 02068 | 12,639.7 sq mi | 26.8 sq mi |
| 9 | Dillingham Census Area | 02070 | 18,353.2 sq mi | 2,274.9 sq mi |
| 10 | Fairbanks North Star Borough | 02090 | 7,335 sq mi | 99.9 sq mi |
| 11 | Haines Borough | 02100 | 2,334.9 sq mi | 398.6 sq mi |
| 12 | Hoonah-Angoon Census Area | 02105 | 6,559.7 sq mi | 3,025.7 sq mi |
| 13 | Juneau City and Borough | 02110 | 2,702.9 sq mi | 555.1 sq mi |
| 14 | Kenai Peninsula Borough | 02122 | 16,017.6 sq mi | 8,703.5 sq mi |
| 15 | Ketchikan Gateway Borough | 02130 | 4,857.1 sq mi | 1,820.5 sq mi |
| 16 | Kodiak Island Borough | 02150 | 6,689.5 sq mi | 5,462.6 sq mi |
| 17 | Kusilvak Census Area | 02158 | 17,151.5 sq mi | 2,507.1 sq mi |
| 18 | Lake and Peninsula Borough | 02164 | 23,896.6 sq mi | 9,913.9 sq mi |
| 19 | Matanuska-Susitna Borough | 02170 | 24,707.1 sq mi | 560.5 sq mi |
| 20 | Nome Census Area | 02180 | 22,969.8 sq mi | 5,320.4 sq mi |
| 21 | North Slope Borough | 02185 | 88,792.8 sq mi | 6,035.1 sq mi |
| 22 | Northwest Arctic Borough | 02188 | 35,671.7 sq mi | 4,948.1 sq mi |
| 23 | Petersburg Borough | 02195 | 2,900.9 sq mi | 926.6 sq mi |
| 24 | Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area | 02198 | 5,268.1 sq mi | 5,646.8 sq mi |
| 25 | Sitka City and Borough | 02220 | 2,870.2 sq mi | 1,904.3 sq mi |
| 26 | Skagway Municipality | 02230 | 442.9 sq mi | 10.7 sq mi |
| 27 | Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | 02240 | 24,839.2 sq mi | 282.4 sq mi |
| 28 | Wrangell City and Borough | 02275 | 2,556.1 sq mi | 915 sq mi |
| 29 | Yakutat City and Borough | 02282 | 7,628.4 sq mi | 1,536.2 sq mi |
| 30 | Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area | 02290 | 145,767.5 sq mi | 2,110.7 sq mi |
How to read and use this map
County lines are administrative boundaries, not postal routes. A mailing address can use a city name associated with a neighboring area, and ZIP codes can cross county lines. When you need to identify a county for an address, confirm it with an official geocoder or local government source.
For classroom or planning use, download a PDF from the controls above. Labelled exports use numbered callouts for crowded areas; numbered quiz maps match the alphabetical county list. SVG files keep the boundary lines sharp at larger paper sizes.
Frequently asked questions
How many boroughs and census areas are in Alaska?
Alaska has 30 boroughs and census areas in the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2025 cartographic boundary file.
Can I print this Alaska county map?
Yes. Choose Download / print and select PDF for a landscape Letter page, PNG for an image, or SVG for editable vector artwork. Because the map is SVG, its boundary lines stay sharp when scaled.
What is the largest county-level area in Alaska?
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area is the largest by land area in this dataset at 145,767.5 square miles. This is an area ranking, not a population ranking.
What is the smallest county-level area in Alaska?
Skagway Municipality is the smallest by land area in this dataset at 442.9 square miles.
Are these legal survey boundaries?
No. This is a generalized reference map. Property, parcel, election, and legal boundary questions should be checked with the relevant state or local agency.
Map source
U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary File, Counties, 1:5,000,000. Land and water area fields are supplied in the same file and converted from square meters to square miles. Accessed September 27, 2026.