County Maps US

Howell County, Missouri

A county in Missouri, ranked 29 of 115 by population.

CountyFIPS 29091

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

Download SVGFull Missouri map downloads

Population
40,798
+998 (+2.5%) since 2020
Land area
927.2
square miles. A further 0.1% of the total area is water
Population density
44.0
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
West Plains
Seat of county government.
Established
1857
168 years ago
Largest city
West Plains city
Population 12,780.

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 Howell 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 Howell 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 562 by 800 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 Howell 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
Population40,79829th of 1151,177th of 3,144
Land area927.2 sq mi3rd of 115779th of 3,144
Population density44.0 per sq mi43rd of 1151,586th of 3,144
Median household income$50,99398th of 1152,717th of 3,143

Full data for Howell County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population40,798Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202039,800Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?39,749Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area927.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area928.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?44.0 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$50,993American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$173,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age40.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households15,965American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units18,149American 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
-99
472 births, 571 deaths
Net migration
+10
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 Howell 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
Oregon CountyMissouri28 mi8,709
Fulton CountyArkansas25 mi12,492
Texas CountyMissouri24 mi25,994
Ozark CountyMissouri20 mi9,172
Douglas CountyMissouri19 mi12,342
Shannon CountyMissouri11 mi7,285

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.