58,785 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.6% since 2020)
593 square miles of land · 99 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.
10 active community water systems list Colbert County in the area they serve, reporting 83,781 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MUSCLE SHOALS UTILITY BOARD surface water · local government · AL0000321 | 22,467 served |
| TUSCUMBIA WATER WORKS surface water · local government · AL0000331 | 16,539 served |
| SHEFFIELD UTILITIES, CITY OF SHEFFIELD surface water · local government · AL0000327 | 13,758 served |
| COLBERT COUNTY RURAL WATER SYSTEM surface water · local government · AL0000314 | 13,449 served |
| SPRING VALLEY WATER AUTHORITY buys surface water · local government · AL0000329 | 5,520 served |
| HAWK PRIDE MT WATER SYSTEM groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · AL0000316 | 4,035 served |
| LITTLEVILLE WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · AL0000320 | 3,576 served |
| CHEROKEE WATER & GAS DEPARTMENT surface water · local government · AL0000311 | 1,992 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.
About 72 people were held in Colbert County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 201 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 124.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
4 school districts have their office in Colbert County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $43.8 million — $37.2 million to run schools, about $12,856 per student, plus $5.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $16.3 million local (mostly property tax), $22.8 million state, $3.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.9 million.
Spent $41.8 million — $39.4 million to run schools, about $15,018 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.7 million local (mostly property tax), $20.8 million state, $7.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.9 million.
Spent $22.2 million — $19.1 million to run schools, about $12,656 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.1 million local (mostly property tax), $12.6 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.8 million.
Spent $16.9 million — $14.8 million to run schools, about $14,219 per student, plus $1.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.5 million local (mostly property tax), $9.5 million state, $3.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.3 million.
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 Colbert County about $34.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
172 bridges in Colbert County: 54 in good condition, 115 fair, and 3 poor (1.7%). “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.
| FRANKFORT RD over THROCKMORTON BRANCH · built 1940 | 1,550 vehicles a day |
| BUDDY DURHAM RD over BEAR CREEK · built 1948 | 360 vehicles a day |
| RICKARD CUTOFF RD over BUZZARD ROOST CREEK · built 1940 | 246 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $141.8 million of work in Colbert County in fiscal 2025, about $2,478 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 Alabama 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 Colbert County 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 Colbert County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Alabama: the state government and every county in Alabama.
Nearby counties: Lauderdale County (16 mi) · Franklin County (18 mi) · Tishomingo County, MS (25 mi) · Lawrence County (30 mi) · Wayne County, TN (37 mi) · Marion County (39 mi).