42,493 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.2% since 2020)
568 square miles of land · 75 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.
9 active community water systems list Cerro Gordo County in the area they serve, reporting 38,007 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MASON CITY WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · IA1750048 | 27,338 served |
| CLEAR LAKE WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · IA1716076 | 7,687 served |
| ROCKWELL WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1773097 | 1,071 served |
| VENTURA WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IA1785032 | 717 served |
| THORNTON WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1781019 | 400 served |
| PLYMOUTH WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1759048 | 378 served |
| MESERVEY WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1754073 | 222 served |
| SWALEDALE WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA1778008 | 144 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 42 people were held in Cerro Gordo County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 165 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 92.
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 Cerro Gordo County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $64.5 million — $53.4 million to run schools, about $14,852 per student, plus $7.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $32.5 million local (mostly property tax), $30.8 million state, $5.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $53.7 million.
Spent $21.2 million — $17.7 million to run schools, about $11,859 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.5 million local (mostly property tax), $7.9 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $19 million.
Spent $15.4 million — $9.8 million to run schools, about $12,657 per student, plus $4.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.4 million local (mostly property tax), $6.1 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $58,000.
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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Cerro Gordo County about $27.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
268 bridges in Cerro Gordo County: 119 in good condition, 135 fair, and 14 poor (5.2%). “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.
| 150TH over BEAVER DAM CREEK · built 1961 | 687 vehicles a day |
| B65 120TH ST over BAILEY CREEK · built 1956 | 403 vehicles a day |
| VINE ST over ROCK FALLS CREEK · built 1966 | 324 vehicles a day |
| 275TH over WILLOW CREEK · built 1941 | 91 vehicles a day |
| HICKORY AVE over CALMUS CREEK · built 1917 | 44 vehicles a day |
| E-W 7TH AVE N over WILLOW CREEK · built 1900 | 26 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $25 million of work in Cerro Gordo County in fiscal 2025, about $580 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 Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Worth County (21 mi) · Franklin County (23 mi) · Floyd County (23 mi) · Hancock County (25 mi) · Mitchell County (30 mi) · Winnebago County (32 mi).