| Tournament Format: | League system |
| Champions: | Surrey |
| Previous Year: | 1955 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1955 County Championship |
| Next Year: | 1957 |
| Next Tournament: | 1957 County Championship |
The 1956 County Championship was the 57th officially organised running of the County Championship.[1] Surrey won the Championship title for the fifth successive year.[2]
| width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | Won | width=20 abbr="Lost" | Lost | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | Drawn | width=20 abbr="ND" | No Decision | width=20 abbr="1st L" | 1st Inns Loss | width=20 abbr="1st D" | 1st Inns Draw | width=20 abbr="Points" | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surrey | 28 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 200 | |||||||||
| Lancashire | 28 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 180 | |||||||||
| 28 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 176 | ||||||||||
| 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 148 | ||||||||||
| Middlesex | 28 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 144 | |||||||||
| Hampshire | 28 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 140 | |||||||||
| Yorkshire | 28 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 136 | |||||||||
| 28 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 128 | ||||||||||
| Sussex | 28 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 112 | |||||||||
| 28 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 112 | ||||||||||
| Essex | 28 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 110 | |||||||||
| Derbyshire | 28 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 102 | |||||||||
| Glamorgan | 28 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 100 | |||||||||
| 28 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 80 | ||||||||||
| Somerset | 28 | 4 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 76 | |||||||||
| Kent | 28 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 60 | |||||||||
| 28 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 56 |