Snake FinderField Guide · Worldwide

Data

The snakiest counties in America

We ranked 3,148 U.S. counties by the number of snake species with verified records, and by how many of those species are venomous. The short answer: the desert Southwest and Florida, with Arizona in a league of its own for venomous snakes.

Most snake species

Alachua County, Florida

50 species recorded

Most venomous species

Pima County, Arizona

12 venomous species

Most venomous state

Arizona

16 venomous species

Most species, by state

Texas

94 species

What the data shows

Alachua County, Florida tops the list with 50 snake species on record. The rest of the top ten is dominated by the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of Arizona, Texas and New Mexico, plus central and south Florida, where tropical and temperate species overlap.

Venomous snakes tell a sharper story. 8 of the 10 counties with the most venomous species are in Arizona, the rattlesnake capital of the country. Pima County alone has 12 venomous species on record, most of them rattlesnakes, plus the Sonoran coral snake.

A long list is not the same as a dangerous place. Most snakes in every county on this page are harmless, and venomous bites in the U.S. are uncommon and rarely fatal with prompt medical care. If you are bitten, call 911 or Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

Top 50 counties by snake species

  1. 1Alachua, Florida50
  2. 2Pima, Arizona48
  3. 3Cochise, Arizona47
  4. 4Brewster, Texas47
  5. 5Maricopa, Arizona44
  6. 6Val Verde, Texas44
  7. 7Citrus, Florida43
  8. 8Miami-Dade, Florida42
  9. 9San Bernardino, California42
  10. 10Santa Cruz, Arizona42
  11. 11Marion, Florida42
  12. 12Riverside, California40
  13. 13Bexar, Texas40
  14. 14Hidalgo, New Mexico40
  15. 15Jeff Davis, Texas39
  16. 16Charleston, South Carolina39
  17. 17Terrell, Texas39
  18. 18Pecos, Texas39
  19. 19San Diego, California38
  20. 20Travis, Texas38
  21. 21Dona Ana, New Mexico38
  22. 22Yavapai, Arizona37
  23. 23Crockett, Texas37
  24. 24Pinal, Arizona36
  25. 25Eddy, New Mexico36
  26. 26Saint Tammany, Louisiana36
  27. 27Baldwin, Alabama36
  28. 28Aiken, South Carolina36
  29. 29Collier, Florida35
  30. 30Orange, Florida35
  31. 31Comanche, Oklahoma35
  32. 32Lake, Florida35
  33. 33Levy, Florida35
  34. 34Mohave, Arizona35
  35. 35Graham, Arizona35
  36. 36Covington, Alabama35
  37. 37Edwards, Texas35
  38. 38Kern, California34
  39. 39Palm Beach, Florida34
  40. 40Broward, Florida34
  41. 41Polk, Florida34
  42. 42Wakulla, Florida34
  43. 43Presidio, Texas34
  44. 44Tom Green, Texas34
  45. 45Pender, North Carolina34
  46. 46Santa Rosa, Florida34
  47. 47Los Angeles, California33
  48. 48Tulsa, Oklahoma33
  49. 49Hillsborough, Florida33
  50. 50Brevard, Florida33

Top 25 counties by venomous species

  1. 1Pima, Arizona12
  2. 2Cochise, Arizona12
  3. 3Maricopa, Arizona11
  4. 4Santa Cruz, Arizona10
  5. 5Yavapai, Arizona10
  6. 6Pinal, Arizona10
  7. 7Mohave, Arizona10
  8. 8San Bernardino, California9
  9. 9Pecos, Texas9
  10. 10Gila, Arizona9
  11. 11Brewster, Texas8
  12. 12Val Verde, Texas8
  13. 13Hidalgo, New Mexico8
  14. 14Bexar, Texas8
  15. 15Riverside, California8
  16. 16Jeff Davis, Texas8
  17. 17Crockett, Texas8
  18. 18Graham, Arizona8
  19. 19Comanche, Oklahoma8
  20. 20Presidio, Texas8
  21. 21Coconino, Arizona8
  22. 22Imperial, California8
  23. 23Clark, Nevada8
  24. 24Alachua, Florida7
  25. 25Dona Ana, New Mexico7

States ranked by venomous snake species

#StateVenomousAll species
1Arizona1669
2Texas1594
3New Mexico1162
4California956
5Oklahoma956
6Kansas852
7Nevada833
8Florida768
9Georgia750
10Alabama749
11Louisiana648
12Mississippi644
13South Carolina643
14Arkansas641
15North Carolina541
16Missouri539
17Nebraska536
18Utah536
19Ohio531
20Illinois437
21Kentucky432
22Iowa428
23Colorado336
24Tennessee336
25Virginia335
26Indiana334
27New York323
28Pennsylvania323
29Maryland224
30New Jersey222
31West Virginia221
32Oregon220
33Wisconsin218
34Washington217
35Connecticut216
36Massachusetts216
37Wyoming215
38Idaho214
39District of Columbia120
40Michigan120
41Minnesota119
42South Dakota119
43Delaware118
44Montana112
45Vermont111
46North Dakota19
47Hawaii12
48Rhode Island011
49New Hampshire010
50Maine09

The snakiest county in every state

Methodology

Counts come from research-grade wildlife records aggregated by GBIF and iNaturalist, mapped to counties. A species counts toward a county only with at least two verified records there, which removes most escaped pets, misidentifications and one-off strays. Venomous status follows CDC and toxinology references.

Record counts also reflect how much people look. Counties with universities, parks and active naturalist communities (Alachua County is home to the University of Florida) are better surveyed than remote ones, so a lower count can mean fewer observers rather than fewer snakes. No record of a venomous species in a county does not mean none live there. See our full methodology.

Using this data

Journalists and educators are welcome to cite these rankings. Please credit “Snake Finder (snakefinder.com)” and link to this page. Every county above links to its full species list.