Whitley County is a rural county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 36,825. Whitley County is the 49th largest county in Indiana. The county seat is Columbia City. The county has the highest county number on Indiana license plates, as it is alphabetically the last in the state's list of counties. It is part of the Fort Wayne Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Fort Wayne–Huntington–Auburn Combined Statistical Area.