How it works
This map of Massachusetts quiz names a county and you tap its shape on a blank map. It starts with the giveaways, Cape Cod and the two island counties, and the three stacked west of Worcester come last.
Read the full guide
Easy shapes first
The first seven give themselves away. Barnstable is the hook of Cape Cod, with Dukes and Nantucket the islands below it. Berkshire fills the west end, Essex the northeast corner, and Plymouth the coast between Boston and the Cape. Worcester, the largest shape, runs like Berkshire from the northern line to the southern.
Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden, top to bottom
West of Worcester three counties sit one above another, the ones usually called the Pioneer Valley: Franklin at the top, on the Vermont and New Hampshire lines, Hampshire in the middle, reaching no other state, and Hampden at the bottom, on the Connecticut line.
- Norfolk is drawn in three pieces: Brookline, beside Suffolk, and Cohasset, on the coast, are towns cut off from the rest of the county.
- Suffolk, the small shape that holds Boston, is the second smallest on the map. Only Nantucket is smaller.
- A typed answer needs only the name: Dukes is as right as Dukes County.
Questions and answers
Which Massachusetts county has the fewest people?
Nantucket County, with 14,758 in the Census Bureau's estimate for 2025. Dukes County is next at 21,219. Franklin County, third from the bottom at 70,698, has the fewest of any mainland county.
Which Massachusetts counties border New Hampshire?
Four, west to east: Franklin, Worcester, Middlesex and Essex. Franklin touches Vermont as well, and Worcester also reaches Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Do Massachusetts counties still have county governments?
Six do. Eight county governments were abolished between 1997 and 2000. Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Norfolk and Plymouth kept theirs, and Nantucket is a town and a county in one. All 14 are still counties on the map, and the quiz asks every one.
Which Massachusetts counties share a name with a county in a neighboring state?
Five. Vermont and New York each have an Essex and a Franklin, New York a Suffolk, Rhode Island a Bristol and Connecticut a Middlesex. Only the two Bristol counties touch across the state line.