Map of Alabama Counties

Alabama has 67 counties. That count ties Alabama with neighboring Florida and with Pennsylvania for 20th place among U.S. states. It has stayed the same since 1903, when Houston County was created around Dothan as the last new county. The oldest, Washington County, was formed in 1800, while the area was still part of the Mississippi Territory. Each county has a seat where its government meets, from Prattville in Autauga County to Double Springs in Winston County. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 Census reference maps and its July 2024 population estimates both use these 67 counties.

Baldwin County is the largest county in Alabama, with 1,589.9 square miles (4,118 km²) of land according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2026 Gazetteer Files. Its water area adds another 437.3 square miles (1,133 km²), the most of any Alabama county, for a total of about 2,027 square miles (5,250 km²). That total is larger than the state of Rhode Island. In the 2026 Census Gazetteer, Tuscaloosa County is second by land area at 1,320.9 square miles (3,421 km²), followed by Clarke County at 1,238.4 square miles (3,207 km²). Etowah County in northeast Alabama is the smallest, with 535.1 square miles (1,386 km²) of land in the same 2026 figures. Baldwin's county seat is Bay Minette.

Jefferson County has the largest population in Alabama, with 664,744 residents in the U.S. Census Bureau's July 2024 estimates, or 12.9% of the state's 5,157,699 people. Birmingham is its county seat. The county's population has dipped from 674,727 in 2020. Madison County ranks second with 423,355 in July 2024 and grew fast enough to pass Mobile County, which had 412,339 that year. Madison's seat, Huntsville, had about 215,000 residents in the 2020 Census and is Alabama's largest city, ahead of Birmingham. Baldwin, Tuscaloosa, Shelby and Montgomery counties complete the list of counties above 200,000.

Mobile County and Baldwin County are the only Alabama counties on the Gulf of Mexico, and they sit on opposite sides of Mobile Bay. Mobile County, west of the bay, includes the city of Mobile, founded in 1702, and Dauphin Island. Baldwin County, to the east, includes the beach towns of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. Both have far more water area than any other Alabama county: 437.3 square miles (1,133 km²) for Baldwin and 414.7 square miles (1,074 km²) for Mobile in the 2026 Census Gazetteer. Together that is 48% of the water area summed across all 67 counties. Marshall County, on Lake Guntersville, ranks third with 57.2 square miles (148 km²) of water in the 2026 Gazetteer.

An Alabama county is the area run by a county commission, and the county seat is the city or town that holds its courthouse and main offices. In the biggest counties the seat is also the main city, such as Birmingham for Jefferson and Huntsville for Madison. Elsewhere it often isn't. Baldwin County is governed from Bay Minette, an inland town, and Lee County from Opelika rather than Auburn. Seven seats share their county's name, including Cullman, Talladega and Tuscaloosa. Two pairs are easy to mix up: the town of Marion is the seat of Perry County, not Marion County (seat: Hamilton), and the town of Butler is the seat of Choctaw County, not Butler County (seat: Greenville).

Washington County is Alabama's oldest county, created in 1800 while the region belonged to the Mississippi Territory, 19 years before Alabama became a state on December 14, 1819. Madison County followed in 1808 and Baldwin County in 1809. Houston County, formed in 1903 with Dothan as its seat, is the newest, and Cullman County (1877) is the second newest. More than half of the counties date from three periods: 15 were created in 1818, the year before statehood, 10 in 1832 after Creek and Choctaw land cessions, and 13 between 1866 and 1868. The 1866 to 1868 group includes Lee, Elmore, Etowah, Escambia and Geneva counties.

Limestone County is Alabama's fastest-growing county by percentage, rising 14.1% from 104,209 residents in 2020 to 118,942 in July 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Limestone, with Athens as its seat, lies directly west of Madison County. Baldwin County grew 12.2% to 261,608 over the same period. Madison County added the most people, 32,828, and moved past Mobile County into second place statewide. The steepest losses are in the Black Belt of west and central Alabama: Perry County fell 8.7% to 7,719, Lowndes 7.8% to 9,485 and Greene 7.5% to 7,127. Jefferson County, still the most populous, has 9,983 fewer residents than in 2020.

All 67 counties in Alabama are officially in the Central Time Zone, six hours behind UTC in winter and five hours behind during daylight saving time, which the whole state observes. The only exception is informal. Phenix City in Russell County and several nearby towns in Lee and Chambers counties keep Eastern Time in daily life, because many residents commute to Columbus, Georgia, and other towns across the state line. The U.S. Department of Transportation, which sets time zone boundaries, still places all of these communities in Central Time. If you schedule calls or deliveries near the Georgia line, check which clock a business uses.

To make a custom map of Alabama, open this 67-county map in the Ultimaps editor. It is free, and you don't need an account. You can color counties two ways: set a color on each county yourself, or upload a spreadsheet with county names and a number for each, such as clients per county or 2024 population, so the counties are colored by value. Add pins to mark single places like branch offices, schools or event venues. Then choose a color scheme and adjust the borders, labels, title and legend. On the free plan, you can export a standard PNG with a small Ultimaps credit. High-resolution PNG, SVG and PDF exports require a Pro plan.