THE MCDONALD COUNTY LAND BRIEF
Land in the
Dissected Springfield Plateau-Elk River Hills setting.
McDonald County has 539.4 square miles of land in Missouri. 2 mapped landscape regions meet across McDonald County: Dissected Springfield Plateau-Elk River Hills, Springfield Plateau.
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
McDonald County intersects 2 mapped regional units. The largest mapped shares are:
- Dissected Springfield Plateau-Elk River Hills78.7%
- Springfield Plateau21.3%
Finding your parcel within McDonald County
The atlas lists 9 cities, towns, townships, and Census communities associated with McDonald County, including Pineville, Jane, Anderson. The list includes overlapping geography types and does not divide the county into exclusive service areas.
McDonald County by land and water
The Census records 0.2 square miles of water within McDonald County, or 0% of its total area. That share is close to McDonald County’s 0%. This is geographic context; waterfront status and usable land must be checked at the parcel.
For scale, McDonald County has 163.9 times the land area of nearby Pineville city (3.29 square miles). These areas describe boundaries, not comparable property prices.
The Census boundary meets Barry County, Newton County within Missouri. A tract near one of these lines should be matched to the county identifier on its own records.

