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All BSA Local Councils

The first PDF file below lists all 239 current local Councils of the Boy Scouts of America (plus five official "sub-Councils", as of 10/2024). The second PDF file lists most former as well as current BSA Councils (just over 2000 Councils!). [See further below for a PDF file listing all current Councils of the Girl Scouts of the USA.]

All current local BSA Councils—PDF file shows Council name, BSA number, and headquarters city/state (country).

Current & former BSA Councils (over 2000)—PDF file shows Council name, dates in existence, and subsequent history.

Special Information

"Mega" Councils

The Greater New York Councils (#640) covers New York City, and consists of five sub-Councils, each covering one of the city's five boroughs under the direction of the Greater New York Councils (note the "s"). BSA counts this as one Council.
Bronx (#641)
Brooklyn (#642)
Manhattan (#643)
Queens (#644)
Staten Island (#645)
Michigan Crossroads Council (#780) covers most of Michigan, and formerly consisted of four "Field Service" Councils that each functioned like separate Councils under the direction of Michigan Crossroads Council. However since 2021 the Council now divides its territory into a large number of districts within two administration "divisions" (called President Ford Division and Great Lakes Division).

US Territories

Five US territories have permanent non-military populations:
Territories in the Caribbean Sea

Puerto Rico is its own Council
US Virgin Islands are part of the National Capital Area Council

Territories in the Pacific Ocean (all part of Hawaii's Aloha Council)

American Samoa
Guam
Northern Mariana Islands

Councils that cover exactly one state (no more, no less)

Daniel Webster Council covers New Hampshire.
Green Mountain Council covers Vermont.
Also Puerto Rico Council covers the island territory of Puerto Rico.

Councils that cover an entire state plus more

Aloha Council covers Hawaii plus American Samoa, Guam, & Northern Mariana Islands.
Del-Mar-Va Council covers Delaware plus parts of Maryland & Virginia.
Narragansett Council covers Rhode Island plus parts of Connecticut & Massachusetts.
Northern Lights Council covers North Dakota plus parts of Minnesota, Montana, & South Dakota.

Island Councils (Councils that are located entirely on islands)

Aloha Council—the Hawaiian Islands plus the islands of American Samoa, Guam, & Northern Mariana Islands
Puerto Rico Council—island territory of Puerto Rico, including Vieques & Culebra islands
Suffolk County Council—the easternmost county on Long Island
Theodore Roosevelt Council—Nassau county on Long Island
honorable mention to the Greater New York Councils—4 of its 5 borough Councils (sub-Councils) are entirely on islands (Brooklyn & Queens on Long Island; and Manhattan & Staten Island on their namesake islands), but the Bronx is on the mainland

States with the most Councils

California—all or parts of 21 Councils
Pennsylvania & Texas—all or parts of 18 Councils each
New York—all or parts of 12 Councils

The only State that doesn't have an in-state Council Headquarters

Wyoming—has no Council headquarters. The state is divided among four Councils headquartered in four adjacent states (Colorado, Idaho, South Dakota, Utah).

Council Name Facts (interesting or otherwise)

Longest Council Name

Silicon Valley Monterey Bay (27 letters+spaces); 15 other council names consist of more than 20 letters+spaces

Shortest Council Names

Aloha, Marin, Sioux, Yucca (5 letters each); also the Bronx 'borough council' of the Greater New York Councils

Council Names that are Too Popular (four pairs of Councils have identical or confusingly similar names)

Cherokee Area (Bartlesville OK) & Cherokee Area (Chattanooga TN)
Piedmont (Piedmont CA) & Piedmont (Gastonia NC)
Sequoia (Fresno CA; named after the tree) & Sequoyah (Johnson City TN; named after the creator of the Cherokee syllabary)—different spelling, different meaning, but same pronunciation
Blue Ridge (Greenville SC) & Blue Ridge Mountains (Roanoke VA) are confusingly similar

Most Common Words

area—part of 41 Council names
great or greater—part of 14 Council names
valley—part of 9 Council names
of—part of 8 Council names
trail or trails—part of 7 Council names

Compass Directions (31 Councils use points of the compass)

west/western / north/northern—6 [not counting 'Westmoreland']
south/southern—5 Councils
northeast/northeastern—4 Councils
east / northwest / southwest—3 Councils each
southeast—1 Council

Colors (11 Councils have a color in their name)

black / blue—part of 4 Council names each
green / orange / red—part of 1 Council name each [not counting Greenwich, but allowing redwood]

Numbers (4 Councils have a number in their name)

three—used in 3 Council names
ten—used in 1 Council name

People or Places Named for People

9 frontiersmen, explorers, and various 18th & 19th century Americans (Matthew Arbuckle [Oklahoma's Arbuckle Mountains are named after this US general], Joseph Baker [British 3rd Lieutenant w/ Vancouver Expedition], Daniel Boone, Sam Houston, Henry Hudson, Simon Kenton, Sieur de la Salle, Anthony Wayne, and Daniel Webster)
8 people with states named after them (King Charles I [N. & S. Carolina, from Latin for Charles], Queen Elizabeth I [Virginia, from her nickname of the Virgin Queen], Queen Henrietta Maria [wife of Charles I; Maryland], King George II, King Louis XIV, William Penn, Thomas West [3rd Baron De La Warr], and future King James II [at the time, he was Duke of York])
8 American Indians (Black Hawk, Chief Cornplanter, Chief Marin, Samoset, Chief Seattle, Sequoyah, Tecumseh, and Chief Tuskaloosa [city of Tuscaloosa named after him; his name means 'Black Warrior', hence the name of that Council])
4 US Presidents (Andrew Jackson [once as Andrew Jackson & once as Old Hickory], Abraham Lincoln [once as Abraham Lincoln & once as Lincoln Heritage]; Theodore Roosevelt [also a strong Scouting supporter], George Washington [actually named after Washington Crossing on the Delaware River])
3 early Scouting Founders (Baden-Powell, Dan Beard, and W.D. Boyce)
2 fictitious people (Evangeline [Louisiana parish named after title character in Longfellow poem 'Evangeline'] and Rip Van Winkle [title character in Washington Irving short story])

Special Note on Names of US Presidents

I've spotted only seven US Presidents with councils bearing their first & last names (counting U.S. Grant). There have been additional councils with just the last name of a president, but usually these were named after a city or county or river or other location that was named after the president rather than named directly for the president.

George Washington Council (1st president)—2 councils:
Hibbing, MN, 1925-29 (now part of the Voyageurs Area Council)
Pennington, NJ, 1937-99 (its successor council was ultimately split among four NJ & PA councils)
Andrew Jackson Council (7th president)—2 councils:
Florence, AL, 1926-30 (now within the Greater Alabama Council)
Flowood, MS, 1937-present
Abraham Lincoln Council (16th president)—1 council: Springfield, IL, 1925-present
U.S. Grant Area Council (18th president)—1 council: Freeport, IL, 1927-71 (now part of the Blackhawk Area Council)
Theodore Roosevelt Council (26th president)—2 councils:
Phoenix, AZ, 1962-93 ( now part of the Grand Canyon Council)
Massapequa, NY, 1997-present
Calvin Coolidge Council (30th president)—1 council: Bellows Falls, VT, 1927-71 (now part of the Green Mountain Council)
Gerald R. Ford Council (38th president)—1 council: Grand Rapids, MI, 1975-95 (now part of the Michigan Crossroads Council)

Councils, Regions, Areas, & CST's

At first, the national BSA office supported troops directly, while allowing any group of men to form a local council to meet the needs of their community. In 1913, BSA began issuing charters to 'First Class' and 'Second Class' councils. First Class councils served areas with large populations and could afford to pay a full-time Scout Executive. Second Class councils were run by volunteers. By 1945 there were 549 local councils. The trend ever since has been to consolidate, with 243 councils as of April 2024.

To coodinate councils and build Scouting, the national office first created 8 large Sections covering the continental US in 1913:

Eastern States Section
Southeastern States Section
Middle West Section
Northwest Section
Southern Central States Section
Mountain States Section
Southern Pacific States Section
Northern Pacific States Section

In 1921, the Sections were reorganized into 12 Regions, which coincided with the twelve US Federal Reserve districts. These regions were numbered rather than named, using roman numerals I through XII.

In 1972, the twelve regions were consolidated into six named Regions:

East Central
North Central
Northeast
Southeast
South Central
Western

In 1992, the six regions were further consolidated into four named Regions:

Central
Northeast
Southern
Western

In 2021, BSA consolidated/reorganized the 27 areas of those four regions into 16 numbered National Service Territories. These were further reorganized and consolidated into 14 numbered Council Service Territories in 2024 (still numbered from 1 through 16, but omitting numbers 2 & 11).

Girl Scout Councils

The Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) also divide the country into Councils. Here is a PDF file showing all 112 current local GSUSA Councils & headquarters city/state.