Consolidated city-county

This article is part of a series on
Political divisions of the United States
First level
State (Commonwealth) Federal district Territory (Commonwealth) Indian reservation (list) / Hawaiian home land / Alaska Native tribal entity / Pueblo / Off-reservation trust land / Tribal Jurisdictional Area
Second level
County / Parish / Borough Unorganized Borough / Census area / Villages / District (USVI) / District (AS) Consolidated city-county Independent city Municipality Unorganized atoll State-recognized tribes
Third level
Township Cities, towns, and villages Coterminous municipality Census-designated place Barrio Chapter
Fourth level
Ward
Other areas
Protected areas (Conservation district, National monument, National park) Congressional district Special district (school district) Homeowner association Associated state Military base Federal enclave Unincorporated area Ghost town
United States portal
v t e

In United States local government, a consolidated city-county (also known as either a city-parish or a consolidated government in Louisiana, depending on the locality,^[1] or a unified municipality, unified home rule borough, or city and borough^[2][3] in Alaska) is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county (parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is a type of unitary authority that has the governmental powers of both a municipal corporation and a county.^[4]

A consolidated city-county is different from an independent city, although the latter may result from consolidation of a city and a county and may also have the same powers as a consolidated city-county. An independent city is a city not deemed by its state to be located within the boundary of any county and considered a primary administrative division of its state.^[5] A consolidated city-county differs from an independent city in that the city and county both nominally exist, although they have a consolidated government, whereas in an independent city, the county does not even nominally exist.^[4] Furthermore, a consolidated city-county may still contain independent municipalities maintaining some governmental powers that did not merge with the rest of the county.^[6]

Not considering Hawaii, which has no independent municipalities, the Midwest and Upper South have the highest concentration of large consolidated city-county governments in the United States, including Indianapolis, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Kansas City, Kansas; and Lexington, Kentucky. The largest consolidated city-county in the United States by population is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while the largest by land area is Sitka, Alaska.