THE DADE COUNTY LAND BRIEF
Land in the
Springfield Plateau setting.
Dade County has 490 square miles of land in Missouri. 2 mapped landscape regions meet across Dade County: Springfield Plateau, Cherokee Plains.
Wooded uplands over limestone, dolomite and sandstone characterize the Ozarks. Springs, caves and spring-fed streams are widespread regional features within a landscape of uneven plateaus and valleys.
Regional context: Ozark Highlands ↗ · Regional mapping across the county footprint
Where the landscape changes
Dade County intersects 2 mapped regional units. The largest mapped shares are:
- Springfield Plateau90.3%
- Cherokee Plains9.7%
Central Irregular Plains in Dade County
Irregular plains form a transition between northern agricultural country and more wooded uplands to the south and east. Grassland and forest historically mixed, with wider woodland belts beside streams.
Read the regional source ↗Finding your parcel within Dade County
The atlas lists 6 cities, towns, townships, and Census communities associated with Dade County, including Greenfield, Dadeville, Lockwood. The list includes overlapping geography types and does not divide the county into exclusive service areas.
Dade County by land and water
The Census records 16.2 square miles of water within Dade County, or 3.2% of its total area. That share is close to Dade County’s 3.2%. This is geographic context; waterfront status and usable land must be checked at the parcel.
For scale, Dade County has 430.2 times the land area of nearby Greenfield city (1.14 square miles). These areas describe boundaries, not comparable property prices.
The Census boundary meets Barton County, Cedar County, Greene County, Jasper County, Lawrence County, Polk County within Missouri. A tract near one of these lines should be matched to the county identifier on its own records.

