9,162 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.9% since 2020)
396 square miles of land · 23 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.
7 active community water systems list Emmet County in the area they serve, reporting 7,705 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ESTHERVILLE WATER TREATMENT PLANT groundwater · local government · IA3218024 | 5,974 served |
| ARMSTRONG WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3203066 | 918 served |
| RINGSTED WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3275087 | 365 served |
| WALLINGFORD MUNICIPAL WATERWORKS buys groundwater · local government · IA3290060 | 170 served |
| DROESSLER'S WATER buys groundwater · private · IA4910701 | 158 served |
| DOLLIVER MUNI WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3215044 | 65 served |
| OAK SHORES groundwater · private · IA3203301 | 55 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 9 people were held in Emmet County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 152 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 3.
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 Emmet County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $19.4 million — $16.8 million to run schools, about $13,786 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.1 million local (mostly property tax), $10.9 million state, $2.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $8.8 million.
Spent $6.9 million — $4.8 million to run schools, about $14,855 per student, plus $631,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $591,000 federal. Long-term debt: $389,000.
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 Emmet County about $14.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
78 bridges in Emmet County: 18 in good condition, 45 fair, and 15 poor (19.2%). “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.
| N 4TH ST over W FORK DES MOINES RIVER · built 1966 | 1,196 vehicles a day |
| FM over EF DES MOINES RIVER · built 1957 | 300 vehicles a day |
| FM over SOLDIER CREEK · built 1967 | 190 vehicles a day |
| LOCAL over BROWN CREEK · built 1941 | 110 vehicles a day |
| LOCAL over BROWN CR · built 1961 | 60 vehicles a day |
| LOCAL over SCHOOL CREEK · built 1933 | 50 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $1.2 million of work in Emmet County in fiscal 2025, about $123 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 Emmet 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 Emmet County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Palo Alto County (21 mi) · Martin County, MN (22 mi) · Kossuth County (26 mi) · Dickinson County (26 mi) · Jackson County, MN (31 mi) · Clay County (32 mi).