5,779 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.5% since 2020)
1,513 square miles of land · 4 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.
4 active community water systems list Bent County in the area they serve, reporting 3,061 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LAS ANIMAS CITY OF groundwater · local government · CO0106300 | 2,139 served |
| MCCLAVE WA INC groundwater · private · CO0106500 | 378 served |
| FORT LYON groundwater · private · CO0106900 | 300 served |
| HASTY WATER AUTHORITY groundwater · private · CO0106200 | 244 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 57 people were held in Bent County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2025). In 2020 it was about 59.
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.
2 school districts have their office in Bent County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $14.9 million — $12.5 million to run schools, about $15,215 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.1 million local (mostly property tax), $7.3 million state, $3.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $170,000.
Spent $4.7 million — $4.3 million to run schools, about $16,601 per student, plus $359,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.7 million local (mostly property tax), $2.8 million state, $644,000 federal. Long-term debt: $315,000.
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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Bent County about $4.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
69 bridges in Bent County: 16 in good condition, 51 fair, and 2 poor (2.9%). “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.
| COUNTY ROAD 24 over ARKANSAS RIVER · built 1948 | 173 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 8 over FT. LYON CANAL · built 1987 | 1 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $13 million of work in Bent County in fiscal 2025, about $2,294 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 to voters: 2026-10-02 to 2026-10-09. Drop boxes open: 2026-10-12. In-person voting at voter centers: 2026-10-19 to 2026-11-03. Last day to register and still get a ballot by mail: 2026-10-26. Last suggested day to mail your ballot back: 2026-10-26. Election Day: 2026-11-03. Last day to fix a signature problem: 2026-11-12.
Source: Colorado Secretary of State, Oct. 2, 2026 · Colorado Secretary of State, Sept. 23, 2026 · Colorado Secretary of State — Election Day FAQs
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Bent 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 Bent County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Colorado: the state government and every county in Colorado.
Nearby counties: Otero County (35 mi) · Kiowa County (36 mi) · Prowers County (37 mi) · Crowley County (46 mi) · Baca County (52 mi) · Las Animas County (68 mi).