115,343 people (2024 Census estimate, +14.7% since 2020)
588 square miles of land · 196 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.
20 active community water systems list Dallas County in the area they serve, reporting 146,802 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WEST DES MOINES WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · IA7785007 | 73,959 served |
| WAUKEE WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · IA2573080 | 31,823 served |
| XENIA RWD (DES MOINES) buys surface water · private · IA2573701 | 12,860 served |
| PERRY MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IA2561036 | 7,836 served |
| ADEL MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IA2503003 | 6,461 served |
| XENIA RWD (WOODWARD) buys surface water · private · IA2576705 | 3,465 served |
| DALLAS CENTER WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA2520098 | 1,901 served |
| GRANGER MUNI WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA2537001 | 1,654 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 46 people were held in Dallas County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 68 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 50.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Dallas County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $250.4 million — $156 million to run schools, about $11,927 per student, plus $75.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $119.6 million local (mostly property tax), $101.5 million state, $6.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $372.8 million.
Spent $57.1 million — $42.7 million to run schools, about $11,347 per student, plus $10.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $32.1 million local (mostly property tax), $28.9 million state, $2.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $73 million.
Spent $32.4 million — $25.7 million to run schools, about $11,402 per student, plus $4.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $16.9 million local (mostly property tax), $18.5 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $29.7 million.
Spent $29.8 million — $25 million to run schools, about $13,778 per student, plus $2.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.4 million local (mostly property tax), $18.7 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $22.7 million.
Spent $19.8 million — $16.6 million to run schools, about $13,620 per student, plus $890,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.6 million local (mostly property tax), $8.9 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.6 million.
Spent $11.8 million — $10.6 million to run schools, about $9,683 per student, plus $699,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.3 million local (mostly property tax), $7.4 million state, $437,000 federal. Long-term debt: $9 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Dallas County about $39.7 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.
206 bridges in Dallas County: 96 in good condition, 92 fair, and 18 poor (8.7%). “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.
| FM over JOHNSON CREEK · built 1933 | 2,628 vehicles a day |
| FM over SUGAR CREEK · built 1933 | 2,628 vehicles a day |
| F-60 over PANTHER CREEK · built 1966 | 1,930 vehicles a day |
| FM over STREAM · built 1970 | 1,544 vehicles a day |
| 15TH ST over BUTLER CREEK · built 1907 | 1,027 vehicles a day |
| THOMAS ST over MIDDLE RACOON RIVER · built 1951 | 574 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $18.6 million of work in Dallas County in fiscal 2025, about $187 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 Dallas 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 Dallas County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Guthrie County (24 mi) · Polk County (24 mi) · Madison County (25 mi) · Boone County (25 mi) · Greene County (30 mi) · Adair County (33 mi).