165,432 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.8% since 2020)
2,137 square miles of land · 77 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.
68 active community water systems list Madera County in the area they serve, reporting 140,878 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CITY OF MADERA groundwater · local government · CA2010002 | 66,560 served |
| CHOWCHILLA CITY WATER DEPT groundwater · local government · CA2010001 | 13,916 served |
| RIVERSTONE/ROOTCREEK WATER DISTRICT groundwater · private · CA2010016 | 10,276 served |
| MADERA VALLEY WATER COMPANY groundwater · private · CA2010010 | 6,524 served |
| YOSEMITE SPRING PARK UTIL CO groundwater · private · CA2010005 | 5,300 served |
| TESORO VIEJO MASTER MWC, INC. surface water · private · CA2010017 | 4,660 served |
| CAL AM - OAKHURST groundwater · private · CA2010007 | 3,710 served |
| VALLEY STATE PRISON groundwater · state · CA2010801 | 3,151 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 428 people were held in Madera County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2025). In 2020 it was about 394.
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.
10 school districts have their office in Madera County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $422.7 million — $373.9 million to run schools, about $18,553 per student, plus $30.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $68.8 million local (mostly property tax), $368.9 million state, $84.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $282.6 million.
Spent $37.3 million — $33.8 million to run schools, about $13,158 per student, plus $2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.7 million local (mostly property tax), $28.1 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $102.6 million.
Spent $44.4 million — $36.7 million to run schools, about $17,031 per student, plus $5.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.6 million local (mostly property tax), $38.9 million state, $6 million federal. Long-term debt: $12.2 million.
Spent $27 million — $24.2 million to run schools, about $16,906 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.3 million local (mostly property tax), $17.7 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.7 million.
Spent $24.1 million — $23 million to run schools, about $16,598 per student, plus $377,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.1 million local (mostly property tax), $14.9 million state, $4.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.7 million.
Spent $23.5 million — $18.4 million to run schools, about $16,045 per student, plus $4.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.5 million local (mostly property tax), $14.9 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.3 million.
Spent $18 million — $15.4 million to run schools, about $18,184 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.9 million local (mostly property tax), $6.9 million state, $3.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.8 million.
Spent $70.5 million — $47.5 million to run schools, about $71,630 per student, plus $900,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $28.2 million local (mostly property tax), $37.7 million state, $15.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.5 million.
And 2 more.
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 High compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Madera County about $161.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
250 bridges in Madera County: 95 in good condition, 131 fair, and 24 poor (9.6%). “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.
| STATE ROUTE 99 SB over COTTONWOOD CREEK · built 1967 | 32,500 vehicles a day |
| S GATEWAY DR over SR 99 · built 1958 | 4,380 vehicles a day |
| CR 426 over FRESNO RIVER · built 1988 | 3,000 vehicles a day |
| SCHOOL RD 427 over OAK CREEK · built 1975 | 2,066 vehicles a day |
| N SHORE DR RD 432 over NORTH FORK WILLOW CREEK · built 1953 | 2,000 vehicles a day |
| CHOWCHILLA BLVD over BERENDA SLOUGH · built 1931 | 1,446 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $125.2 million of work in Madera County in fiscal 2025, about $801 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.
General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Ballots mailed; drop boxes open: 2026-10-05. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-19. Early in-person voting: 2026-10-24 to 2026-11-03. Election Day: 2026-11-03. Last day for mailed ballots to arrive: 2026-11-10.
Source: California Secretary of State — Nov. 3, 2026 key dates · California Official Voter Information Guide — dates to remember · California Secretary of State — make a plan to vote
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Madera 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 Madera County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of California: the state government and every county in California.
Nearby counties: Mariposa County (27 mi) · Fresno County (31 mi) · Merced County (53 mi) · Tuolumne County (57 mi) · Mono County (68 mi) · Stanislaus County (73 mi).