Chariton County is a county located in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,408. Its county seat is Keytesville. The county was organized November 16, 1820, from part of Howard County and is named for the Chariton River.

Keytesville is a city in and the county seat of Chariton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 440 as of the 2020 census. Keytesville is the hometown of U.S. Army General Maxwell D. Taylor, who commanded the "Screaming Eagles" 101st Airborne division during the Normandy invasion of World War II. Confederate General Sterling Price, who attacked Keytesville during an unsuccessful cavalry raid across his home state, had previously operated a hotel there.