103,207 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.2% since 2020)
535 square miles of land · 193 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.
17 active community water systems list Etowah County in the area they serve, reporting 125,773 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| GADSDEN, THE WWSB OF THE CITY OF surface water · local government · AL0000577 | 44,637 served |
| RAINBOW CITY, THE UTILITIES BOARD OF buys groundwater · local government · AL0000588 | 12,633 served |
| SOUTHSIDE WATER WORKS AND SEWER BOARD groundwater · local government · AL0000591 | 12,327 served |
| ATTALLA WATER WORKS BOARD groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · AL0000572 | 8,403 served |
| WEST ETOWAH WATER & FIRE PRO AUTHORITY buys surface water · local government · AL0000582 | 6,900 served |
| GLENCOE WATER WORKS BOARD groundwater · local government · AL0000578 | 6,465 served |
| FORDS VALLEY & HWY 278 WATER buys groundwater · local government · AL0000575 | 5,760 served |
| HOKES BLUFF WATER BOARD groundwater · local government · AL0000581 | 5,536 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 510 people were held in Etowah County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 797 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 943.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Etowah County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $108.8 million — $97.6 million to run schools, about $11,216 per student, plus $8.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $22.6 million local (mostly property tax), $71.5 million state, $18.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $45.7 million.
Spent $73.5 million — $66.8 million to run schools, about $13,530 per student, plus $4.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.8 million local (mostly property tax), $39.3 million state, $21.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $22.5 million.
Spent $19.1 million — $17.9 million to run schools, about $11,641 per student, plus $494,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.4 million local (mostly property tax), $13.3 million state, $3.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.7 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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Etowah County about $50.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
238 bridges in Etowah County: 108 in good condition, 125 fair, and 5 poor (2.1%). “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.
| SUTTON BRIDGE RD. over BIG WILLS CREEK · built 1956 | 10,500 vehicles a day |
| AL 205 over ATN RR · built 1924 | 1,567 vehicles a day |
| DEE NIX RD. over LOCUST FORK WARRIOR R · built 1930 | 119 vehicles a day |
| WHITESBORO RD. over TRIB OF SHORT CREEK · built 1966 | 110 vehicles a day |
| MEANS RD. over BLACK CREEK · built 1928 | 105 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $44.7 million of work in Etowah County in fiscal 2025, about $432 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 Etowah 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 Etowah County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Alabama: the state government and every county in Alabama.
Nearby counties: Cherokee County (22 mi) · Calhoun County (22 mi) · Marshall County (24 mi) · St. Clair County (28 mi) · Blount County (31 mi) · DeKalb County (31 mi).