List of counties in Kansas

Kansas has 105 counties, the fifth-highest total of any state. The first counties were established while Kansas was a Territory from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when Kansas became a state. Many of the counties in the eastern part of the state are named after prominent Americans from the late 18th and early-to-mid-19th centuries, while those in the central and western part of the state are named for figures in the American Civil War. Several counties throughout the state bear names of Native American origin.

Wyandotte County and the city of Kansas City, and Greeley County and the city of Tribune, operate as unified governments.

Every license plate issued by the state contains the same two-letter abbreviation for the county in which its vehicle is registered. The FIPS state code for Kansas is 20.

Counties

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Former counties

File:EB9 Kansas.jpg

1881 map of Kansas, showing Arrapahoe, Buffalo, Kansas, Kearney, Sequoyah, St. John counties

File:Base map of Kansas. LOC 2005625111.tif

1893 map of Kansas, showing Garfield and Kearney counties

Sortable table

County	Dates	Notes	Source
Washington	1855–57	One of 36 Original Counties.
Seward	1861–67	Formerly part of Godfrey. Dissolved into Greenwood and Howard Counties.
Godfrey	1855–61	One of the Original 36 Counties. Name changed to Seward around 1861.
Hunter	1855–64	One of the Original 36 Counties. Dissolved into Butler County.
Irving	1860–64	Formed from Hunter County. Dissolved into Butler County.
Otoe	1860–64	Formed from Unorganized Area and dissolved into Butler County.
Shirley	1860–67	Formed from Unorganized Area and renamed Cloud County.
Peketon	1860–65	Formed from Unorganized Area and dissolved back into Unorganized Area.
Madison	1855–61	One of the Original 36 Counties. Dissolved into Breckenridge and Greenwood.
Howard	1867–75	Formed from Seward and Butler Counties. Dissolved into Chautauqua and Elk Counties.
Arapahoe	1873–83	Formed from Unorganized Area. Dissolved into Finney County.
Buffalo	1873–81	Formed from Unorganized Area. Dissolved into Gray County.
Foote	1873–81	Dissolved into Ford and Finney Counties.
Kansas	1873–83	Formed from Unorganized Area. Dissolved into Seward County.
Sequoyah	1873–83	Formed from Unorganized Area. Dissolved into Finney County.
Garfield	1887–93	Formed from Finney and Hodgeman Counties and merged into Finney County.
Billings	1873–74	Created from Norton County and returned to Norton County.
Davis	1855–89	One of 36 Original Counties, now part of Geary County.
Breckinridge	1855–62	Now Lyon County.

St. John County was established in 1881, and formed from the area to the east of range 38 in what was then part of Wallace County. In 1887, the name was changed to Logan County.

Kearney County was established on March 6, 1873, and was dissolved in 1883, with the land area being split between Hamilton and Finney counties. It was reestablished with its original borders in 1887, and organized on March 27, 1888. In 1889, the name was corrected to Kearny County (without an extra "e") to match the last name of Philip Kearny.

See also

• List of townships in Kansas
• List of cities in Kansas
• List of unincorporated communities in Kansas
• List of census-designated places in Kansas
• List of ghost towns in Kansas
• Lists of places in Kansas
• Kansas locations by per capita income
• Kansas census statistical areas
• Kansas license plate county codes

Further reading

• writer, Statf (2022). "KANSAS COUNTY GOVERNMENT OVERVIEW" (PDF). ce.naco.org. National Association of Counties (NACo). Retrieved January 3, 2025.

External links

• The Establishment of Counties in Kansas—Maps and text transcribed from Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1903–1904.