Short answer
- New York State is divided into 62 counties. That total is confirmed by the State of New York and by state agency county listings.
- The state capital, Albany, sits in Albany County, in the east of the state near the Hudson River.
- New York City is made up of five boroughs, and each borough matches one county: Manhattan is New York County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Queens is Queens County, the Bronx is Bronx County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.
- The largest county by area is St. Lawrence County in the far north. The smallest counties by area are the New York City counties, which are packed into a single city.
- On most maps, counties are labeled shapes inside the state outline, with neighboring states, Canada, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the Atlantic Ocean around the edges.
- To find the county for a place, locate the town or city first, then read the county label for the shape that contains it. County seats, where county government sits, are marked on more detailed maps.
A New York State county map looks simple at first glance: one state outline divided into 62 pieces. In practice, it answers many everyday questions. It shows which county a town sits in, where one region ends and another begins, and why an address in Brooklyn can also sit in Kings County. It also clears up one of the most common confusions in American geography: the difference between New York the city and New York the state. This guide explains the map, walks through the regions, gives the complete list of all 62 counties, and explains the five boroughs of New York City and the naming quirks that trip readers up.
How to read a New York State county map
Start with the outline. New York State is wide across the top, with Long Island stretching east into the Atlantic Ocean at the bottom right and a narrow extension, the Niagara Frontier, reaching west toward Lake Erie. Inside that outline, thin lines mark county boundaries. On a labeled map, each county carries its name, usually near its center. On a blank outline map, the same boundaries appear with no names, useful for study and testing.
Read the map in layers. The first layer is the state boundary and the surrounding water: Lake Erie in the west, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in the north and northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast. The second layer is the county boundaries. The third layer, on more detailed maps, adds county seats, major cities, highways, and rivers. Check which layers a map includes before relying on it: a simple reference map may show only county names, while a road map adds highways and a physical map adds mountains, lakes, and rivers.
Pay attention to scale. The counties of New York City are tiny on a statewide map, so mapmakers often add an enlarged inset, a small zoomed view, for the New York City area. Without it, the five city counties can look like a single smudge. The large northern counties can make the map look empty in the north. That emptiness is real geography: the north holds big, sparsely settled counties of forest, farmland, and lakes.
Check the map legend, or key, for the symbols used for the state capital, county seats, cities, highways, and water. Also check the date and the source. County boundaries are stable, so an older map will usually still be correct, but labels, highway numbers, and city details can go out of date. A map drawn from official boundary data is the safest reference choice.
What is a county, and what do counties do?
A county is a division of a state used for local government. In New York, the county is the primary administrative division of the state. Counties carry out state functions locally and provide services too large for a single town or village to handle, generally including law enforcement and public safety, courts, social and health services, and education services such as special needs programs and community colleges.
Every county outside New York City has a county seat, the place where county government is based, typically the site of the county courthouse, the county clerk, and county offices. Seneca County is an exception the state itself notes, with Waterloo and Ovid listed as its county seats. On a map, the county seat is often marked with a star or larger dot than ordinary towns use.
Counties differ in how they govern themselves: some operate under a county charter giving broader home rule powers, while others operate under the general provisions of state County Law. New York City is the major exception: its five counties do not have separate county governments, because they are governed as boroughs of the city.
The state at a glance: neighbors, water, and shape
New York State sits in the northeastern United States. It borders five states: Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to the east, and New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south. To the north and northwest it borders Canada, the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Water shapes much of the outline: Lake Erie in the west, Lake Ontario in the north, the St. Lawrence River along part of the northern border, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast, where Long Island extends into the ocean.
That geography explains the county pattern. The northern counties are large because the land is dominated by the Adirondack Mountains, forests, and lakes, with fewer towns. The Hudson Valley counties form a corridor running north from New York City along the Hudson River. The Finger Lakes counties in the center west are arranged around long, narrow lakes. The western counties cluster around Buffalo, Rochester, and the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. In everyday speech, Long Island holds just two counties, Nassau and Suffolk, while New York City packs five counties into one dense urban area.
Two features anchor the map: the Hudson River, running from the Adirondack region south to New York Harbor, and the Finger Lakes, long lakes in the center west that organize the counties around them. Place those, plus Lake Ontario and Long Island, and you can place almost any county before reading its label.
The regions of New York State, county by county
New Yorkers talk about regions as much as counties, and the state groups its counties by region. Region edges can vary by source, but regions are a useful way to read the map. Working roughly north to south and west to east, here is how the map breaks down.
The North Country and the Adirondacks fill the top of the map: St. Lawrence County, the largest county in the state, with Franklin, Clinton, Essex, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Lewis counties. It is a region of forests, mountains, and lakes, bordering Canada along the St. Lawrence River. These big northern shapes set the scale for everything else.
South of the Adirondacks lies the Capital Region, centered on Albany, the state capital. The state groups Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, and Washington counties in this Capital and Saratoga area, stretching from the Hudson River valley into the foothills. Warren County shows how regions overlap: it belongs to both the mountain country and the capital area in different listings.
The Mohawk Valley runs west from the Capital Region along the Mohawk River, holding Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, and Schoharie counties. Oneida County, founded in 1798 and named for the Oneida people, anchors this valley.
The Hudson Valley runs south from the Capital Region to New York City along the Hudson River: Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, and Westchester counties. Orange County was founded in 1683 and named for William III of Orange, making it one of the oldest counties on the map. Ulster County lies in the Mid-Hudson area, with Kingston as its county seat. Putnam County sits in the lower Hudson Valley, about 55 miles north of New York City, with Carmel as its county seat.
Central New York and the Finger Lakes fill the middle of the state: Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties in Central New York, and Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties in the Finger Lakes area, with Tompkins County at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake. Monroe County, whose county seat is Rochester, anchors the west, and Onondaga County, founded in 1794 and named for the Onondaga people, anchors the east around Syracuse.
The Southern Tier runs along the Pennsylvania border: Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Steuben, Sullivan, and Tioga counties. Tioga County, west of Binghamton with Owego as its county seat, is typical: rural and hilly, organized around small cities and river valleys.
Western New York fills the western end of the map, around Buffalo and the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario: Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties, with Wyoming and Genesee counties east of Buffalo. Genesee and Wyoming also appear in the Finger Lakes list above, as region edges vary. Niagara County, named from an Iroquoian word for the strait or thunder of waters, holds Niagara Falls and Fort Niagara.
Finally, Long Island and New York City fill the southeast corner. Nassau and Suffolk counties cover Long Island in everyday speech, with Suffolk County stretching to the eastern tip. New York City, immediately to the west, holds five more counties in a small area, usually shown in an enlarged inset.
New York City: five boroughs, five counties
New York City is the part of the map that causes the most confusion, so it deserves a slower look. The city is made up of five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough matches exactly one county of New York State, sharing the same boundaries, which is why both names appear for the same place depending on context.
| Borough | County | What to remember |
|---|---|---|
| Manhattan | New York County | New York County is also known as Manhattan, and consists mostly of Manhattan Island plus small islands and Marble Hill on the mainland. |
| Brooklyn | Kings County | Kings is the county name; Brooklyn is the borough name used in everyday speech. |
| Queens | Queens County | The borough and the county share the name Queens. |
| The Bronx | Bronx County | The Bronx became a separate county in 1914; before that, its territory was part of New York County. |
| Staten Island | Richmond County | Richmond County is more popularly known as Staten Island, and is one of the five boroughs. |
The history helps explain the double names. The modern city took its present form in 1898, when previously separate municipalities were consolidated under one city government. The Bronx was organized as a borough at consolidation but remained part of New York County until Bronx County was created in 1914, so each borough then matched one county. Queens went through a similar adjustment: the eastern part of the old Queens County was separated in 1899 to form Nassau County, leaving the borough and the county of Queens covering the same area.
In practice, the borough name is what people use in conversation and addresses, while the county name appears in courts, property records, and many state and federal forms. A court case in Brooklyn is a Kings County case. A property record in Manhattan is a New York County record. If a form asks for your county and you live in the city, give the county name from the table above, unless the form asks for the borough.
The five New York City counties are also the exception to the usual county government pattern. They do not have separate county governments, because they are governed as boroughs of the city. Each borough has a borough president, but the city government provides the services a county government would provide elsewhere. That is one reason maps sometimes label the city counties differently, or group them in an inset: they behave differently from the other 57 counties.
The complete list: all 62 counties of New York State
The table below lists every county in alphabetical order. County names are confirmed against the State of New York county index and state agency county listings, which together name all 62. Use it to check a map, settle a spelling question, or confirm that a place belongs to the county you expected. Note the spelling of St. Lawrence, which includes a period after St, and of Schoharie and Schuyler, two names often misspelled.
| # | County | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albany | State capital county |
| 2 | Allegany | |
| 3 | Bronx | New York City borough: the Bronx |
| 4 | Broome | |
| 5 | Cattaraugus | |
| 6 | Cayuga | |
| 7 | Chautauqua | |
| 8 | Chemung | |
| 9 | Chenango | |
| 10 | Clinton | |
| 11 | Columbia | |
| 12 | Cortland | |
| 13 | Delaware | |
| 14 | Dutchess | |
| 15 | Erie | |
| 16 | Essex | |
| 17 | Franklin | |
| 18 | Fulton | |
| 19 | Genesee | |
| 20 | Greene | |
| 21 | Hamilton | |
| 22 | Herkimer | |
| 23 | Jefferson | |
| 24 | Kings | New York City borough: Brooklyn |
| 25 | Lewis | |
| 26 | Livingston | |
| 27 | Madison | |
| 28 | Monroe | County seat: Rochester |
| 29 | Montgomery | |
| 30 | Nassau | Long Island |
| 31 | New York | New York City borough: Manhattan |
| 32 | Niagara | |
| 33 | Oneida | |
| 34 | Onondaga | |
| 35 | Ontario | County seat: Canandaigua |
| 36 | Orange | |
| 37 | Orleans | |
| 38 | Oswego | |
| 39 | Otsego | County seat: Cooperstown |
| 40 | Putnam | County seat: Carmel |
| 41 | Queens | New York City borough: Queens |
| 42 | Rensselaer | |
| 43 | Richmond | New York City borough: Staten Island |
| 44 | Rockland | |
| 45 | Saratoga | |
| 46 | Schenectady | |
| 47 | Schoharie | |
| 48 | Schuyler | |
| 49 | Seneca | County seats: Waterloo and Ovid |
| 50 | St. Lawrence | Largest county in the state |
| 51 | Steuben | |
| 52 | Suffolk | Long Island |
| 53 | Sullivan | |
| 54 | Tioga | County seat: Owego |
| 55 | Tompkins | |
| 56 | Ulster | County seat: Kingston |
| 57 | Warren | |
| 58 | Washington | |
| 59 | Wayne | |
| 60 | Westchester | |
| 61 | Wyoming | |
| 62 | Yates |
Count the rows and you get 62, matching the state total. If another map or list shows a different number, it is out of date, counting something else, or confusing counties with towns or cities. New York State has 62 counties, no more and no fewer, and that number has held since Bronx County, the newest county, was created in 1914.
How county names came about
County names in New York come from several sources. Many are named for people. Madison County is named for James Madison, the fourth president. Monroe County is named for James Monroe, the fifth president. Montgomery County is named for Richard Montgomery, a Revolutionary War general killed at the Battle of Quebec. Wayne County is named for General Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary War hero. Washington County was founded as Charlotte County in 1772 and later named for George Washington, the Revolutionary War general and first president.
Other names come from the Native peoples and languages of the region. Oneida County was founded in 1798 and named for the Oneida people. Onondaga County, founded in 1794, takes its name from the Onondaga people, with the name understood to mean People of the Hills. Oswego County, founded in 1816, takes its name from a Mohawk language word meaning the outpouring, referring to the mouth of the Oswego River. Otsego County, founded in 1791, takes its name from a Mohawk word meaning place of the rock.
A third group reflects Dutch and English colonial history. Nassau County takes its name from an old name for Long Island, once named Nassau after the Dutch Prince William of Nassau, Prince of Orange. Rensselaer County, founded in 1791, is named for the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the land in the area. Schenectady County is named from a Mohawk word meaning on the other side of the pine lands.
The naming quirks that matter most for map reading are the New York City double names already covered: Kings for Brooklyn, New York for Manhattan, and Richmond for Staten Island. Two more are worth noting. First, New York County and New York City are not the same thing: the county is Manhattan only, while the city covers all five boroughs. Second, Long Island is both an island and a region name. The island itself holds four counties in geographic terms, Kings and Queens as well as Nassau and Suffolk, but in everyday speech Long Island usually means Nassau and Suffolk only. If a map labels a region Long Island, check whether it means the island or the two counties.
How the county map changed over time
The county map was not drawn all at once. Some counties trace to the colonial period: Orange County, for example, was founded in 1683. Others were created as settlement spread west and north in the late 1700s and 1800s. Washington County began as Charlotte County in 1772 and was renamed later. Otsego County was founded in 1791, Rensselaer County in 1791, Onondaga County in 1794, and Oneida County in 1798. Oswego County followed in 1816, Orleans County in 1824, and Schuyler County as late as 1854. Each new county was carved out of older, larger counties as population grew and travel to the county seat became impractical.
The New York City changes came last: the modern city was consolidated in 1898, Nassau County was separated from Queens County in 1899, and Bronx County was created in 1914. Since 1914, the total has stayed at 62. That stability is good news for map readers: a county map from decades ago will still show the same 62 boundaries, even if roads, city limits, and labels have changed since.
County history also helps with old maps and records. A record from the 1800s may name a county that no longer covers the same area, or a place that has since moved into a new county. If a place seems to be in the wrong county, check the date: the boundary may have moved.
Practical uses for a county map
A county map is a working tool, not just a classroom poster. Here are the most common uses.
Finding the county for an address. This is the single most common use. Use an official county lookup, or find the town on a labeled map and read the county that contains it. You need the county for voter registration, jury service, court filings, and many government forms, and the town name alone is not always enough, because some town names repeat.
Planning travel. Counties are a natural scale for road trips. A route from New York City to Niagara Falls crosses a string of counties, and knowing the county names helps you follow weather alerts, road conditions, and local news, which are often organized by county.
Understanding local government and services. Sheriff departments, county health departments, county courts, and county clerks all operate at county level. If you need a birth certificate, a property record, or a court filing, the county tells you which office to contact. In New York City, the same functions run through city offices organized by borough and county, which is why the borough to county table matters for paperwork.
Studying geography and history. A blank outline county map is a standard study tool: filling in the counties by hand, region by region, beats memorizing a list, and formation dates show how settlement moved from east to west and north.
Working with data. Weather warnings, election results, health statistics, and census data are frequently published by county, so a county map lets you read those datasets at a glance. When you see a choropleth map, a map shaded by value, of New York State, the shapes being shaded are almost always these same 62 counties.
Choosing the right kind of county map
Not every county map suits every purpose. A labeled reference map, with all 62 names printed, is best for lookup and study. A blank outline map is best for testing yourself or for classroom use. An interactive map is best for exploring one county at a time, and a printable map is best for the wall, the classroom, or a trip folder.
When choosing, check four things. First, does it show all 62 counties with correct spellings, including St. Lawrence, Schoharie, and Schuyler? Second, does it include a New York City inset so the five city counties are legible? Third, does it show the features you need, such as county seats, cities, highways, or rivers, without cluttering the labels? Fourth, is it dated and sourced? A map drawn from official boundary data, such as the US Census Bureau county boundary files, is a safer reference than an undated image passed around online.
For classroom or publication use, prefer a map you have the right to use: a public domain boundary dataset, a map from a government source, or a licensed stock map. Download the file and host it yourself rather than linking to an image on another site. Give the map a clear caption stating the source and the date, and add alt text for readers who cannot see the image.
Common confusions, cleared up
Is New York City a county? No. New York City is a city made up of five boroughs, each of which is a county. There is no single county called New York City. If a form asks for a county and you live in the city, use the county name for your borough.
Is Manhattan a county? Not under that name. Manhattan is the borough name; the county name is New York County. The same pattern holds for Brooklyn, which is Kings County, and Staten Island, which is Richmond County. Queens and the Bronx share their names between borough and county, which is why they cause less confusion.
Is Long Island a county? No. Long Island is an island holding Nassau and Suffolk counties, plus, in geographic terms, Kings and Queens counties as part of New York City. In everyday speech, it usually means Nassau and Suffolk only.
Is Albany the capital of New York State or New York City? Albany is the capital of New York State, and it sits in Albany County. New York City is a city within the state, not the seat of state government.
Does every county have a county seat? Every county outside New York City has a county seat, the place where county government sits. The five New York City counties are the exception, because they are governed as boroughs of the city rather than by separate county governments.
Can counties change? In principle, the state legislature could change county boundaries, but in practice the 62 county pattern has been stable since 1914. What changes is everything drawn on top of the counties: roads, city limits, school districts, and voting districts.
Frequently asked questions
How many counties are in New York State?
New York State has 62 counties, confirmed by the State of New York county index and by state agency listings naming all 62.
What is the largest county in New York State?
St. Lawrence County, in the far north along the St. Lawrence River and the Canadian border, is the largest county in New York State. The State of New York describes it as a rural mix of farms, forests, and small towns.
What is the smallest county in New York State?
By area, the smallest counties are the New York City counties, packed into a single city. New York County, which is Manhattan, consists mostly of Manhattan Island plus small islands, so on a statewide map these counties are usually shown in an enlarged inset.
What are the five boroughs of New York City, and which counties are they?
The five boroughs are Manhattan (New York County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens (Queens County), the Bronx (Bronx County), and Staten Island (Richmond County). Each borough shares its boundaries with its county.
What county is Albany in?
Albany, the capital of New York State, is in Albany County, in the eastern part of the state on the Hudson River.
What county is Rochester in?
Rochester is in Monroe County. The State of New York notes that Monroe County’s county seat is Rochester, and that the county is named for James Monroe, the fifth president.
What is the newest county in New York State?
Bronx County is the newest county, created in 1914 from territory that had previously been part of New York County. Since then, the total has remained at 62.
Where can I find an official New York State county map?
Start with official sources: the State of New York county index at ny.gov, state agency county listings, and US Census Bureau county boundary data. Check that any map you use shows all 62 counties, includes a New York City inset, and states its source and date.
Sources & references
- The State of New York, Counties index, ny.gov/counties: the state county listing used to confirm county names, regions, county seats, and naming notes quoted or paraphrased in this article, including Albany area counties, Monroe County and Rochester, Ontario County and Canandaigua, Ulster County and Kingston, Putnam County and Carmel, Tioga County and Owego, Otsego County and Cooperstown, Seneca County and Waterloo and Ovid, St. Lawrence County as the largest county, and Richmond County as Staten Island.
- New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, County of Residence Codes, tax.ny.gov: the official state county code listing naming all 62 counties, used to cross-check the complete alphabetical list.
- New York State Department of Health, county listings, health.ny.gov: state listing describing coverage across all 62 counties, used as a second cross-check on the county total and names.
- New York State Office of General Services, Empire State Plaza, County-Inspired Ornaments at the New York State Capitol, empirestateplaza.ny.gov: state page noting that New York has 62 counties and grouping counties by region, used to cross-check the total and regional groupings.
- New York City Municipal Archives, Marriage records collection guide, a860-collectionguides.nyc.gov: city archive guide confirming that Kings County is present day Brooklyn, Queens County is present day Queens, Richmond County is present day Staten Island, and that parts of Westchester County became the Bronx, with New York County covering Manhattan before consolidation.
- World Atlas, New York Maps and Facts: used only for the general statement of neighboring states and provinces and bordering waters, as a secondary source alongside the state listings.
