Essex County, Virginia
County seat: Tappahannock · Population 10,654 (2025) · 257 sq mi
Essex County is the 115th most populous of Virginia's 133 counties, with 10,654 people (2025 estimate). Its county seat is Tappahannock. It is part of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (PD 18) region, one of the 21 Planning District Commissions of Virginia. The map shows its 1 city or town and the 7 neighboring counties.
Essex County facts
- County seat
- Tappahannock
- Population (2025 estimate)
- 10,654 +0.5% since 2020
- Land area
- 257 sq mi 78th largest of 133
- Water area
- 29 sq mi
- Population density
- 41 per sq mi
- Established
- 1692
- Same name
- One of 5 Essex Counties in the US
- Named after
- Essex ceremonial county in England (use Q21272241 for administrative non-metropolitan county)
- Largest city
- Tappahannock 2,193
- Median household income
- $56,520
- Cities and towns
- 1
- ZIP codes
- 9
- Time zone
- Eastern
- FIPS code
- 51057
Cities and towns in Essex County
Essex County has 1 incorporated place. Populations count the people living inside Essex County; cities that cross a county line also list the other counties.
| Name | Type | Population 2025 | Also in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tappahannock (county seat) | Town | 2,193 |
ZIP codes in Essex County
9 ZIP codes reach into Essex County. ZIP codes ignore county lines, so some also cover a neighboring county.
- 22436
- 22437 also King and Queen County
- 22438 also Caroline County
- 22454
- 22476
- 22504 also Middlesex County
- 22509
- 22560 also King and Queen County
- 23148 also King and Queen County
Population of Essex County, 2020–2025
Essex County grew by 54 people (+0.5%) between April 2020 and July 2025: 308 more deaths than births and a net gain of 356 people from migration.
| Year (July 1) | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 10,597 |
| 2021 | 10,570 |
| 2022 | 10,635 |
| 2023 | 10,590 |
| 2024 | 10,677 |
| 2025 | 10,654 |
Neighboring counties
- King and Queen County south · 6,743 people
- Richmond County east · 9,294 people
- Caroline County west · 34,413 people
- Westmoreland County northeast · 19,715 people
- Middlesex County southeast · 10,841 people
- King George County northwest · 29,646 people
- Lancaster County southeast · 10,995 people
Printable Essex County map
The PDF is a vector file with real text: it prints sharp on Letter paper and you can search it for a town. The PNG is 2400 pixels wide for slides and documents. Both are free to use with a credit to WhichCounty.
- PDF (Letter) (123 KB)
- PNG (2400 px) (120 KB)
Paste this code to embed the map on your site:
Sources
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files (1:500,000).
- Population: Census Bureau county and city estimates, Vintage 2025. CDP populations: American Community Survey 2020–2024.
- Places and ZIP codes: Census Bureau 2026 Gazetteer and 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area relationship files.
- County seat, founding year and name origin: Wikidata (CC0), checked against state sources.
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