19,152 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.5% since 2020)
731 square miles of land · 26 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.
11 active community water systems list Fayette County in the area they serve, reporting 12,950 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| OELWEIN MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IA3353088 | 5,920 served |
| WEST UNION WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3383014 | 2,540 served |
| FAYETTE WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3342041 | 1,256 served |
| ELGIN MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3338010 | 685 served |
| CLERMONT WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3317047 | 586 served |
| MAYNARD WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3350059 | 476 served |
| HAWKEYE WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3346037 | 438 served |
| ARLINGTON WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA3307065 | 419 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 Fayette County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 382 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 44.
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.
4 school districts have their office in Fayette County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $21.3 million — $18.3 million to run schools, about $13,574 per student, plus $1.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.8 million local (mostly property tax), $13.4 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.9 million.
Spent $16.9 million — $14.7 million to run schools, about $13,289 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.3 million local (mostly property tax), $10 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $5 million.
Spent $9.8 million — $8 million to run schools, about $13,615 per student, plus $736,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $5.4 million state, $1 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.4 million.
Spent $4.7 million — $4 million to run schools, about $12,399 per student, plus $173,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.6 million local (mostly property tax), $2 million state, $517,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.9 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 Fayette County about $14.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
362 bridges in Fayette County: 125 in good condition, 140 fair, and 97 poor (26.8%). “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.
| W CHARLES ST over DRY RUN CREEK · built 1905 | 2,673 vehicles a day |
| RIVERVIEW DRIVE over LITTLE TURKEY RIVER · built 1954 | 1,344 vehicles a day |
| 1ST AVE SW over DRY RUN CREEK · built 1900 | 1,273 vehicles a day |
| MILL ST. over VOLGA RIVER · built 1963 | 959 vehicles a day |
| CEDAR RD over MINK CREEK · built 1957 | 825 vehicles a day |
| 10TH ST SW over OTTER CREEK · built 1963 | 820 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $23 million of work in Fayette County in fiscal 2025, about $1,180 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 Fayette 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 Fayette County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Bremer County (25 mi) · Clayton County (26 mi) · Buchanan County (27 mi) · Chickasaw County (28 mi) · Winneshiek County (30 mi) · Black Hawk County (36 mi).