County Maps US

Carter County, Missouri

A county in Missouri, ranked 107 of 115 by population.

CountyFIPS 29035

Within Missouri
Carter County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Van Buren, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
5,418
+217 (+4.2%) since 2020
Land area
507.4
square miles. A further 0.3% of the total area is water
Population density
10.7
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Van Buren
Seat of county government.
Established
1859
166 years ago
Largest city
Van Buren town
Population 792.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Carter County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Carter County, Missouri from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 544 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Carter County ranks

Position among the 115 counties of Missouri, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn MissouriNationally
Population5,418107th of 1152,787th of 3,144
Land area507.4 sq mi78th of 1152,047th of 3,144
Population density10.7 per sq mi105th of 1152,544th of 3,144
Median household income$50,000100th of 1152,771st of 3,143

Full data for Carter County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population5,418Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20205,201Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?5,200Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area507.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area509 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?10.7 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$50,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$159,400American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age38.9American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households2,038American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units2,676American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+12
82 births, 70 deaths
Net migration
+45
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Carter County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Ripley CountyMissouri26 mi10,717
Shannon CountyMissouri26 mi7,285
Reynolds CountyMissouri16 mi5,992
Wayne CountyMissouri14 mi10,782
Oregon CountyMissouri10 mi8,709
Butler CountyMissouri8.9 mi41,904

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 115 counties of Missouri

Open the interactive Missouri county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.