List of counties in Alabama

See also: List of United States counties and county-equivalents

Counties of Alabama
Alabama counties (clickable map)
Location	State of Alabama
Number	67
Populations	Greatest: 662,895 (Jefferson) Least: 7,341 (Greene) Average: 76,246 (2023)
Areas	Largest: 1,590 sq mi (4,100 km2) (Baldwin) Smallest: 535 sq mi (1,390 km2) (Etowah) Average: 782 sq mi (2,030 km2)
Government	County government
Subdivisions	cities, towns, unincorporated communities, census designated place

The U.S. state of Alabama has 67 counties. ^[1] Each county serves as the local level of government within its borders. The land enclosed by the present state borders was joined to the United States of America gradually. Following the American Revolutionary War, West Florida was ceded to Spain by treaty while the remainder was organized primarily as the Mississippi Territory, and later the Alabama Territory. ^[2] The territorial assembly established some of the earliest county divisions that have survived to the present, including the earliest county formation, that of Washington County, created on June 4, 1800. ^[3] In 1814, the Treaty of Fort Jackson opened the territory to American settlers, which in turn led to a more rapid rate of county creation. Alabama was admitted to the Union as the 22nd state in 1819. ^[4] The Alabama state legislature formed additional counties from former native lands as the Indian Removal Act took effect and settlers populated different areas of Alabama. ^[5] In 1820, Alabama had 29 counties. By 1830 there were 36 and Native Americans still occupied large areas of land in northeast and far western Alabama. By 1840, 49 counties had been created; 52 by 1850; 65 by 1870; and the present 67 counties by 1903. ^[6] Houston County was the last county created in the state, on February 9, 1903. ^[3]

According to 2023 U. S. Census data, the average population of Alabama's 67 counties is 76,246, with Jefferson County as the most populous (662,895), and Greene County (7,341) the least. ^[7] The average land area is 756 sq mi (1,958 km²). The largest county is Baldwin (1,590 sq mi, 4,118 km²) and the smallest is Etowah (535 sq mi, 1,386 km²). ^[8] The Constitution of Alabama requires that any new county in Alabama cover at least 600 square miles (1,600 km²) in area, effectively limiting the creation of new counties in the state. ^[9]

The Alabama Department of Revenue's Motor Vehicle Division issues standard automobile license plates that bear a one- or two-digit number identifying the county in which the vehicle is registered. This number is given in the fourth column in the table below. The first three prefixes are reserved for the state's historically most populous counties, and thereafter proceed alphabetically. Individual license plate numbers are assigned sequentially in each licensing office. The numbers are in the format XAA1111 or XXAA111, depending on whether the prefix is one or two digits. Overflow registrations are accommodated by substituting a letter for one of the registration numbers, such that XXZ999Z is followed by XXA0A0A. ^[10]

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. The FIPS code links in the table point to U. S. Census "quick facts" pages for each county. Alabama's FIPS state code is 01.

Counties

County	FIPS code [11]	County seat [3]	License # [12]	Est. [3]	Formed from [13]	Etymology [6] [14]	Density	Population (2023) [15]	Land Area [16]	Map
AutaugaCounty	001	Prattville	4	1818	Montgomery County	The Autauga or Atagi people, Native Americans who were a sub-group of the Alibamu	101.5	60,342	594.44 sq mi (1,540 km2)
BaldwinCounty	003	Bay Minette	5	1809	Washington County and West Florida	Abraham Baldwin (1754–1807), U.S. legislator from Georgia	159.5	253,507	1,589.78 sq mi (4,118 km2)
BarbourCounty	005	Clayton	6	1832	Pike County	James Barbour (1775–1842), Governor of Virginia and U.S. Senator	27.8	24,585	884.88 sq mi (2,292 km2)
BibbCounty	007	Centreville	7	1818	Montgomery County (as Cahawba County)	William Wyatt Bibb (1781–1820), 1st Governor of Alabama	35.1	21,868	622.58 sq mi (1,612 km2)
BlountCounty	009	Oneonta	8	1818	Montgomery County and Creek territories	Willie Blount (1768–1835), Governor of Tennessee	92.8	59,816	644.78 sq mi (1,670 km2)
BullockCounty	011	Union Springs	9	1866	Barbour, Macon, Montgomery, and Pike counties	Edward Bullock (1822–1861), colonel in the Confederate States Army	15.9	9,897	622.80 sq mi (1,613 km2)
ButlerCounty	013	Greenville	10	1819	Conecuh and Monroe counties	William Butler (1759–1818), captain in Creek War	23.7	18,382	776.83 sq mi (2,012 km2)
CalhounCounty	015	Anniston	11	1832	St. Clair County (as Benton County)	John C. Calhoun (1782–1850), 7th U.S. Vice President	192.2	116,429	605.87 sq mi (1,569 km2)
ChambersCounty	017	LaFayette	12	1832	Montgomery County	Henry H. Chambers (1790–1826), U.S. Senator	57.1	34,079	596.53 sq mi (1,545 km2)
CherokeeCounty	019	Centre	13	1836	Cherokee territory	Cherokee people, whose lands included Northeast Alabama	46.4	25,666	553.70 sq mi (1,434 km2)
ChiltonCounty	021	Clanton	14	1868	Autauga, Bibb, Perry, and Shelby counties (as Baker County)	William Parish Chilton (1810–1871), Alabama Supreme Court Justice and Confederate congressman	67.0	46,431	692.85 sq mi (1,794 km2)
ChoctawCounty	023	Butler	15	1847	Sumter and Washington counties	Choctaw people, whose lands included Alabama	13.4	12,252	913.50 sq mi (2,366 km2)
ClarkeCounty	025	Grove Hill	16	1812	Washington County	John Clarke (1766–1832), general from Georgia	18.0	22,337	1,238.46 sq mi (3,208 km2)
ClayCounty	027	Ashland	17	1866	Randolph and Talladega counties	Henry Clay (1777–1852), U.S. legislator from Kentucky	23.4	14,111	603.96 sq mi (1,564 km2)
CleburneCounty	029	Heflin	18	1866	Calhoun, Randolph, and Talladega counties	Patrick Cleburne (1828–1864), Major General in Confederate States Army	27.9	15,639	560.10 sq mi (1,451 km2)
CoffeeCounty	031	Elba and Enterprise [17]	19	1841	Dale County	John Coffee (1772–1833), military leader in War of 1812 and Creek War	82.0	55,643	{{{Area}}}
ColbertCounty	033	Tuscumbia	20	1867	Franklin County	George Colbert (1764–1839) and Levi Colbert (1759–1834), Chickasaw chiefs	98.5	58,361	592.62 sq mi (1,535 km2)
ConecuhCounty	035	Evergreen	21	1818	Monroe County	The Conecuh River, which flows through the county	13.1	11,174	850.16 sq mi (2,202 km2)
CoosaCounty	037	Rockford	22	1832	Montgomery County	The Coosa River, which flows through the county, and is itself named after a Native American village	15.8	10,268	650.93 sq mi (1,686 km2)
CovingtonCounty	039	Andalusia	23	1821	Henry County	Leonard Covington (1768–1813), Brigadier General in War of 1812 and U.S. Congressman	36.8	37,952	1,030.46 sq mi (2,669 km2)
CrenshawCounty	041	Luverne	24	1866	Butler, Coffee, Covington, Lowndes, and Pike Counties	Anderson Crenshaw (1783–1847), Alabama Supreme Court justice and early settler	21.5	13,101	608.84 sq mi (1,577 km2)
CullmanCounty	043	Cullman	25	1877	Blount, Morgan, and Winston counties	Colonel John G. Cullmann (1823–1895), founder of county seat	125.2	92,016	734.84 sq mi (1,903 km2)
DaleCounty	045	Ozark	26	1824	Covington and Henry counties	Samuel Dale (1772–1841), Brigadier General and state legislator	88.9	49,871	561.15 sq mi (1,453 km2)
DallasCounty	047	Selma	27	1818	Monroe and Montgomery counties	Alexander James Dallas (1759–1817), U.S. Secretary of Treasury	37.0	36,165	978.69 sq mi (2,535 km2)
DeKalbCounty	049	Fort Payne	28	1836	Cherokee territory	Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), major general in American Revolutionary War	93.4	72,569	777.09 sq mi (2,013 km2)
ElmoreCounty	051	Wetumpka	29	1866	Autauga, Coosa, Montgomery, and Tallapoosa counties	John Archer Elmore (1762–1834), Revolutionary War veteran	146.2	90,441	618.48 sq mi (1,602 km2)
EscambiaCounty	053	Brewton	30	1868	Baldwin and Conecuh counties	Escambia Creek, a tributary of the Conecuh River	38.7	36,558	945.08 sq mi (2,448 km2)
EtowahCounty	055	Gadsden	31	1866	Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Marshall, and St. Clair counties (as Baine County)	Etowah Indian Mounds	193.0	103,241	534.99 sq mi (1,386 km2)
FayetteCounty	057	Fayette	32	1824	Marion, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, and Walker counties	Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette (1757–1834), Revolutionary War commander	25.4	15,967	627.66 sq mi (1,626 km2)
FranklinCounty	059	Russellville	33	1818	Cherokee territory	Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), politician, diplomat, inventor, and publisher	50.2	31,802	633.82 sq mi (1,642 km2)
GenevaCounty	061	Geneva	34	1868	Coffee, Dale, and Henry counties	Named after Geneva, New York, the origin of several early settlers	47.0	26,988	574.41 sq mi (1,488 km2)
GreeneCounty	063	Eutaw	35	1819	Marengo and Tuscaloosa counties	Nathanael Greene (1742–1786), Revolutionary War general	11.3	7,341	647.11 sq mi (1,676 km2)
HaleCounty	065	Greensboro	36	1867	Greene, Marengo, Perry, and Tuscaloosa counties	Stephen F. Hale (1816–1862), lieutenant colonel in Confederate States Army	23.1	14,888	643.94 sq mi (1,668 km2)
HenryCounty	067	Abbeville	37	1819	Conecuh County	Patrick Henry (1736–1799), Revolutionary War patriot and Governor of Virginia	31.9	17,899	561.75 sq mi (1,455 km2)
HoustonCounty	069	Dothan	38	1903	Dale, Geneva, and Henry counties	George S. Houston (1811–1879), 24th Governor of Alabama and U.S. Congressman	187.1	108,462	579.82 sq mi (1,502 km2)
JacksonCounty	071	Scottsboro	39	1819	Cherokee territory	Andrew Jackson (1767–1845), 7th U.S. President	49.6	53,467	1,077.87 sq mi (2,792 km2)
JeffersonCounty	073	Birmingham	1	1819	Blount County	Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), 3rd U.S. President	596.5	662,895	1,111.28 sq mi (2,878 km2)
LamarCounty	075	Vernon	40	1867	Fayette and Marion counties (as Jones County)	Lucius Q. C. Lamar (1825–1893), U.S. Supreme Court justice	22.6	13,661	604.85 sq mi (1,567 km2)
LauderdaleCounty	077	Florence	41	1818	Cherokee and Chickasaw territories	James Lauderdale (1780–1814), Colonel in War of 1812	145.0	96,814	667.70 sq mi (1,729 km2)
LawrenceCounty	079	Moulton	42	1818	Cherokee territory	James Lawrence (1781–1813), naval officer in War of 1812	48.5	33,502	690.68 sq mi (1,789 km2)
LeeCounty	081	Opelika	43	1866	Chambers, Macon, Russell, and Tallapoosa counties	Robert E. Lee (1807–1870), Commander of the Confederate States Army	301.6	183,215	607.54 sq mi (1,574 km2)
LimestoneCounty	083	Athens	44	1818	Elk and Madison counties	Limestone Creek, named for local geological deposits	204.8	114,654	559.94 sq mi (1,450 km2)
LowndesCounty	085	Hayneville	45	1830	Butler, Dallas, and Montgomery counties	William Lowndes (1782–1822), U.S. Congressman from South Carolina	13.6	9,717	715.91 sq mi (1,854 km2)
MaconCounty	087	Tuskegee	46	1832	Montgomery County	Nathaniel Macon (1758–1837), U.S. legislator from North Carolina	30.2	18,370	608.89 sq mi (1,577 km2)
MadisonCounty	089	Huntsville	47	1808	Cherokee and Chickasaw territories	James Madison (1751–1836), 4th U.S. President	514.7	412,600	801.59 sq mi (2,076 km2)
MarengoCounty	091	Linden	48	1818	Choctaw territory	Battle of Marengo	19.1	18,684	976.88 sq mi (2,530 km2)
MarionCounty	093	Hamilton	49	1818	Tuscaloosa County	Francis Marion (1732–1795), military leader in American Revolutionary War	39.4	29,244	742.29 sq mi (1,923 km2)
MarshallCounty	095	Guntersville	50	1836	Blount and Jackson counties and Cherokee territory	John Marshall (1755–1835), Chief Justice of the United States 1801–1835	178.1	100,756	565.84 sq mi (1,466 km2)
MobileCounty	097	Mobile	2	1812	Mobile District of West Florida after annexation into Mississippi Territory	Mobile Bay, on which county is located, and which is itself named after the Maubila tribe of Native Americans	334.8	411,640	1,229.44 sq mi (3,184 km2)
MonroeCounty	099	Monroeville	51	1815	Creek territory	James Monroe (1758–1831), 5th U.S. President	18.7	19,229	1,025.67 sq mi (2,656 km2)
MontgomeryCounty	101	Montgomery	3	1816	Monroe County	Lemuel P. Montgomery (1786–1814), Major in Creek War	286.9	224,980	784.25 sq mi (2,031 km2)
MorganCounty	103	Decatur	52	1818	Cherokee territory (as Cotaco County)	Daniel Morgan (1736–1802), U.S. Congressman	216.0	125,133	579.34 sq mi (1,500 km2)
PerryCounty	105	Marion	53	1819	Cahawba, Dallas, Marengo, and Tuscaloosa counties	Oliver Hazard Perry (1795–1819), naval officer in War of 1812	10.8	7,738	719.66 sq mi (1,864 km2)
PickensCounty	107	Carrollton	54	1820	Tuscaloosa County	Andrew Pickens (1739–1817), General in the Revolutionary War	21.2	18,688	881.41 sq mi (2,283 km2)
PikeCounty	109	Troy	55	1821	Henry and Montgomery counties	Zebulon Pike (1779–1813), explorer and officer in War of 1812	49.3	33,137	672.09 sq mi (1,741 km2)
RandolphCounty	111	Wedowee	56	1832	St. Clair and Shelby counties	John Randolph (1773–1833), U.S. Senator from Virginia	39.2	22,786	580.55 sq mi (1,504 km2)
RussellCounty	113	Phenix City	57	1832	Barbour, Bullock, Lee and Macon counties	Gilbert C. Russell (1782–1861), officer in Creek War	91.6	58,744	641.14 sq mi (1,661 km2)
St. ClairCounty	115	Ashville and Pell City	59	1818	Shelby County	Arthur St. Clair (1736–1818), President of Continental Congress	151.2	95,552	631.90 sq mi (1,637 km2)
ShelbyCounty	117	Columbiana	58	1818	Montgomery County	Isaac Shelby (1750–1826), Governor of Kentucky	296.8	233,000	784.93 sq mi (2,033 km2)
SumterCounty	119	Livingston	60	1832	Choctaw territory	Thomas Sumter (1734–1832), U.S. Congressman from South Carolina	13.0	11,727	903.89 sq mi (2,341 km2)
TalladegaCounty	121	Talladega	61	1832	St. Clair and Shelby counties	Talatigi, Creek Indian name for the county seat, meaning "border town"	110.1	81,132	736.78 sq mi (1,908 km2)
TallapoosaCounty	123	Dadeville	62	1832	Montgomery and Shelby counties	Tallapoosa River	56.8	40,677	716.52 sq mi (1,856 km2)
TuscaloosaCounty	125	Tuscaloosa	63	1818	Montgomery County and Choctaw territory	Iroquoian name for the Black Warrior River	179.6	237,373	1,321.75 sq mi (3,423 km2)
WalkerCounty	127	Jasper	64	1823	Blount, Jefferson, and Tuscaloosa counties	John Williams Walker (1783–1823), U.S. Senator from Alabama	81.8	64,728	791.19 sq mi (2,049 km2)
WashingtonCounty	129	Chatom	65	1800	Adams and Pickering counties of Mississippi Territory	George Washington (1732–1799), 1st U.S. President	13.9	15,022	1,080.21 sq mi (2,798 km2)
WilcoxCounty	131	Camden	66	1819	Dallas and Monroe counties	Joseph M. Wilcox (1790–1814), lieutenant in Creek War	11.2	9,944	888.50 sq mi (2,301 km2)
WinstonCounty	133	Double Springs	67	1850	Walker County (as Hancock County)	John A. Winston (1812–1871), 15th Governor of Alabama	38.5	23,611	612.98 sq mi (1,588 km2)

Former county names

County [6]	Named for [6]	Changed to [3]
Baine County	David W. Baine, Colonel in the Civil War	Etowah County in 1868
Baker County	Alfred Baker, a local landowner	Chilton County in 1874
Benton County	Thomas Hart Benton, U. S. Senator from Missouri	Calhoun County in 1858, honoring Benton's rival John C. Calhoun of South Carolina after Benton's renunciation of slavery
Cahawba County	former state capital of Cahawba	Bibb County in 1820
Cotaco County	Cotaco Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River	Morgan County in 1821
Hancock County	John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence	Winston County in 1858
Jones County	Josiah Jones, a local political leader	Covington County (its former name) in 1868 after Jones refused the honor
Jones County	E.P. Jones, a local landowner	Sanford County, which subsequently became Lamar County in 1877
Sanford County	H.C. Sanford, a local landowner	Lamar County in 1877

Former counties

County	Established	Dissolved	Named for	Notes
Decatur County	December 7, 1821	December 28, 1825	Commodore Stephen Decatur of the United States Navy.	Created in 1822 with Woodville as its county seat. Abolished several years later, divided between Madison County and Jackson County.
Elk County [18]	May 9, 1817	January 26, 1818	Elk River	Established by Mississippi Territory prior to Mississippi–Alabama split; abolished prior to Alabama statehood

See also

• List of census county divisions in Alabama

References

Specific

1. "List of Alabama Counties". Bama Politics. October 23, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
2. "Alabama History Timeline, 1701–1800". Alabama Department of Archives and History . Retrieved May 18, 2009.
3. National Association of Counties. "NACo – Find a county". Archived from the original on March 9, 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
4. "Alabama History Timeline, 1801–1860". Alabama Department of Archives and History. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
5. "Alabama Counties: Cherokee". Alabama Department of Archives and History. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
6. Foscue, Virginia O. (1989) Place Names in Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN   0-8173-0410-X
7. "U.S. Census website". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
8. "2010 Census U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
9. Wikisource:Alabama State Constitution of 1901/Initial Constitution#Section 39
10. Nicholson, David. "Alabama License Plates, 1969–present". License Plates of North America, 1969–present. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
11. "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
12. Nicholson, David. "Alabama County Codes". License Plates of North America, 1969–present. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
13. Owen, Thomas McAdory; Owen, Marie Bankhead (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company.
14. "Alabama Counties". Alabama Department of Archives and History. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
15. U.S. Census Bureau. "QuickFacts: Alabama" . Retrieved March 20, 2024.
16. "Community Facts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
17. Coffee County, Alabama. "History of Coffee County". Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
18. McDonald, William Lindsey (2003) [1997]. A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. Killen, Alabama: Bluewater Publications. pp. 223–224. ISBN   9780971994560 . Retrieved May 8, 2012.

General

• "CountyState.info Alabama". Official County Websites. Retrieved September 13, 2007.

External links

• Map series showing evolution of county boundaries. Cartographic Research Laboratory. University of Alabama Department of Geography.
• Alabama Counties Alabama Counties Features. Digital Alabama