20,733 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.6% since 2020)
571 square miles of land · 36 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 Buchanan County in the area they serve, reporting 12,312 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| INDEPENDENCE WATER DEPT groundwater · local government · IA1037070 | 6,064 served |
| JESUP MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1044006 | 2,508 served |
| FAIRBANK WATER SUPPLY buys groundwater · local government · IA1025031 | 1,111 served |
| WINTHROP WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1093031 | 840 served |
| HAZLETON WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1031044 | 713 served |
| LAMONT WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1051051 | 429 served |
| BRANDON WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1011001 | 341 served |
| HAZLETON MOBILE HOME PARK buys groundwater · private · IA1031601 | 150 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 40 people were held in Buchanan County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 319 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 23.
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 Buchanan County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $21.3 million — $18.4 million to run schools, about $12,274 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.6 million local (mostly property tax), $12.6 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.9 million.
Spent $16 million — $11.9 million to run schools, about $11,152 per student, plus $3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.6 million local (mostly property tax), $8.2 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $16.6 million.
Spent $10.3 million — $7.8 million to run schools, about $13,350 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.6 million local (mostly property tax), $5 million state, $930,000 federal. Long-term debt: $6.7 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Buchanan County about $13.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
320 bridges in Buchanan County: 139 in good condition, 161 fair, and 20 poor (6.3%). “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.
| RACINE AVE over DRAINAGE DITCH · built 1953 | 2,671 vehicles a day |
| RACINE AVE over SMALL NATURAL STREAM · built 1954 | 2,671 vehicles a day |
| FM over WAPSIPINICON RIVER · built 1962 | 1,390 vehicles a day |
| FM over SMALL STREAM · built 1952 | 790 vehicles a day |
| FM over BR BUFFALO CREEK · built 1962 | 776 vehicles a day |
| 220TH ST over DRAINAGE DITCH · built 1927 | 760 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $12.1 million of work in Buchanan County in fiscal 2025, about $588 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 Iowa 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 Buchanan 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 Buchanan County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Black Hawk County (24 mi) · Delaware County (24 mi) · Fayette County (27 mi) · Benton County (28 mi) · Linn County (30 mi) · Bremer County (33 mi).