Finding your county from your location
The page takes your device's position and asks OpenStreetMap which county contains it. Counties are mapped as boundaries, so the answer comes from the lines themselves rather than from your ZIP code or mailing city. That matters, because both of those can point to the wrong county near a boundary.
You might need your county for a jury summons, a property tax question, a burn ban or a weather warning, a hunting or fishing licence, a building permit, voter registration, or simply because a form asks for it. Weather alerts in particular are issued county by county, so knowing which county you are in while travelling tells you which warnings apply to you.
If you want the county for an address rather than your current position, type the address into the search box.
Why your ZIP code or city may point to the wrong county
A ZIP code is a set of postal routes, and many of them cross county lines. A city can do the same: parts of some cities sit in two, three or even five counties. So "my ZIP code is in X County" or "my city is in X County" can be true for most of the area and still wrong for your street.
Your mailing address adds another layer. In unincorporated areas the city name on your mail belongs to the post office that delivers it, which may be in the neighbouring county. Looking up the county by position avoids all of this.
Places where the county looks different
Most of the United States is divided into counties, but not all of it uses that word or that structure. The Census Bureau counts a little over 3,100 counties and county-equivalents. The ones that surprise people:
- Louisiana has parishes instead of counties.
- Alaska has boroughs, and the large area outside them is split into census areas for statistics.
- Virginia has 38 independent cities that belong to no county. Baltimore, St. Louis and Carson City are independent cities as well.
- Consolidated city-counties such as Denver, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Honolulu are a city and a county at once, so the county has the same name as the city.
- Connecticut abolished county government in 1960, and since 2022 the Census Bureau uses nine planning regions in place of its eight old counties. Map data may show either.
- New York City is five boroughs, each of which is also a county: Manhattan is New York County, Brooklyn is Kings County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.
How accurate the county answer is
Away from a boundary, the answer is as reliable as the map, and county lines are among the best-mapped boundaries in OpenStreetMap. Near a boundary, the limit is your device's position. If the accuracy line says 30 metres and you are 10 metres from the county line, the reading could fall on either side.
In that case, step outside so your phone can get a satellite fix, or tap the map on your side of the line. For legal purposes, such as which court or tax assessor you deal with, your county assessor's parcel records are the final word.