291,782 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.3% since 2020)
876 square miles of land · 333 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.
15 active community water systems list Alachua County in the area they serve, reporting 222,701 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| GRU - MURPHREE WTP groundwater · public/private · FL2010946 | 195,768 served |
| ALACHUA WTP groundwater · local government · FL2010017 | 8,220 served |
| HIGH SPRINGS WTP groundwater · local government · FL2010201 | 5,795 served |
| NEWBERRY WTP groundwater · local government · FL2010207 | 3,885 served |
| HAWTHORNE WTP groundwater · local government · FL2010477 | 2,275 served |
| ARCHER WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · FL2010199 | 1,500 served |
| PALMS OF ARCHER groundwater · private · FL2010042 | 1,092 served |
| WALDO WTP groundwater · local government · FL2010212 | 1,042 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 885 people were held in Alachua County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 789.
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.
1 school district has its office in Alachua County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $365.7 million — $320.8 million to run schools, about $11,075 per student, plus $30.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $188 million local (mostly property tax), $142.1 million state, $66.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $129.6 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 Alachua County about $89.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
116 bridges in Alachua County: 61 in good condition, 54 fair, and 1 poor (0.9%). “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.
| SR-26 over HATCHET CREEK · built 1959 | 12,000 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $472.5 million of work in Alachua County in fiscal 2025, about $1,697 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. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-05. Vote-by-mail request due by 5 pm: 2026-10-22. Early voting — the statewide minimum: 2026-10-24 to 2026-10-31. Election Day — and mail ballots must arrive: 2026-11-03.
Source: Florida Division of Elections — election dates · WPTV, 2026 deadlines · Florida Division of Elections — early voting
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Alachua 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 Alachua County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Florida: the state government and every county in Florida.
Nearby counties: Bradford County (22 mi) · Union County (26 mi) · Gilchrist County (26 mi) · Clay County (36 mi) · Marion County (38 mi) · Putnam County (38 mi).