18,237 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.3% since 2020)
40,661 square miles of land · 0 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
35 active community water systems list Bethel Census Area in the area they serve, reporting 14,961 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BETHEL HEIGHTS WATER SYSTEM groundwater · tribal · AK2270346 | 2,228 served |
| BETHEL-CITY S/D WATER groundwater · tribal · AK2271999 | 1,660 served |
| KWETHLUK NEW PIPED WATER SYSTEM surface water · tribal · AK2272017 | 760 served |
| QUINHAGAK WATER SYSTEM surface water · tribal · AK2271041 | 724 served |
| TOKSOOK BAY WATER SYSTEM groundwater · tribal · AK2270215 | 661 served |
| KIPNUK WATER SYSTEM surface water · tribal · AK2270736 | 639 served |
| AKIACHAK WATER SYSTEM groundwater · tribal · AK2272747 | 627 served |
| KONGIGANAK WATER SYSTEM surface water · tribal · AK2271025 | 547 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
No county jail figure in the national data for Bethel Census Area — not gathered, never hidden. Some counties share a regional jail or have none.
3 school districts have their office in Bethel Census Area. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $223.9 million — $166.7 million to run schools, about $41,997 per student, plus $57.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.8 million local (mostly property tax), $97.6 million state, $60.5 million federal.
Spent $21.6 million — $19.4 million to run schools, about $41,227 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $374,000 local (mostly property tax), $7.4 million state, $8.3 million federal.
Spent $19.3 million — $18.3 million to run schools, about $57,469 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $488,000 local (mostly property tax), $8.1 million state, $6.8 million federal.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Bethel Census Area about $8.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
13 bridges in Bethel Census Area: 7 in good condition, 5 fair, and 1 poor (7.7%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| IRR BIA RTE 1045 over UNNAMED STREAM · built 1980 | 0 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $125.7 million of work in Bethel Census Area in fiscal 2025, about $6,735 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Alaska are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Bethel Census Area come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Bethel Census Area built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Alaska: the state government and every county in Alaska.
Nearby counties: Dillingham Census Area (115 mi) · Kusilvak Census Area (138 mi) · Bristol Bay Borough (185 mi) · Lake and Peninsula Borough (232 mi) · Kenai Peninsula Borough (265 mi) · Nome Census Area (298 mi).