9,360 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.4% since 2020)
473 square miles of land · 20 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.
6 active community water systems list Howard County in the area they serve, reporting 6,115 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CRESCO WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · IA4515087 | 3,913 served |
| RICEVILLE WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA4558001 | 816 served |
| ELMA WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA4525017 | 505 served |
| LIME SPRINGS WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA4535081 | 473 served |
| PROTIVIN WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA4552063 | 269 served |
| CHESTER WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA4509024 | 139 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 10 people were held in Howard County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 180 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 2.
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 Howard County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $25.1 million — $14.8 million to run schools, about $13,925 per student, plus $8.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10 million local (mostly property tax), $9.7 million state, $2.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $8.7 million.
Spent $6.9 million — $5.5 million to run schools, about $13,631 per student, plus $846,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.4 million local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $825,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.2 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 Howard County about $9.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
212 bridges in Howard County: 95 in good condition, 76 fair, and 41 poor (19.3%). “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.
| WILLOW AVE over BOHEMIAN CREEK · built 1951 | 1,420 vehicles a day |
| 200TH ST over BOHEMIAN CREEK · built 1951 | 730 vehicles a day |
| YOUNG AVE over BOHEMIAN CREEK · built 1951 | 717 vehicles a day |
| FM-150TH ST over CRANE CREEK · built 1968 | 590 vehicles a day |
| FM-150TH ST over CRANE CREEK · built 1968 | 579 vehicles a day |
| FM 150TH ST over LITTLE WAPSIPINICON · built 1967 | 452 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $1.4 million of work in Howard County in fiscal 2025, about $147 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 Howard 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 Howard County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Chickasaw County (21 mi) · Mitchell County (23 mi) · Winneshiek County (24 mi) · Fillmore County, MN (24 mi) · Mower County, MN (30 mi) · Floyd County (32 mi).