The arrondissement of Lons-le-Saunier was created in 1800.[4] In May 2006 it gained the canton of Chaumergy from the arrondissement of Dole, and it lost the canton of Villers-Farlay to the arrondissement of Dole.[4] At the January 2017 reorganisation of the arrondissements of Jura, it gained four communes from the arrondissement of Saint-Claude, and it lost 67 communes to the arrondissement of Dole.[5]
As a result of the reorganisation of the cantons of France which came into effect in 2015, the borders of the cantons are no longer related to the borders of the arrondissements. The cantons of the arrondissement of Lons-le-Saunier were, as of January 2015:[6]