34,048 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.9% since 2020)
554 square miles of land · 61 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.
13 active community water systems list Marion County in the area they serve, reporting 30,229 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PELLA WATER WORKS DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · IA6368033 | 11,052 served |
| KNOXVILLE WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IA6342036 | 8,400 served |
| MARION CO. RURAL WATER DISTRICT buys groundwater · private · IA6342711 | 5,687 served |
| PLEASANTVILLE WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IA6377046 | 1,676 served |
| MELCHER-DALLAS WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA6300099 | 1,213 served |
| IRUA - PERSHING UTILITIES buys groundwater · local government · IA6300800 | 488 served |
| BUSSEY WATER SUPPLY buys groundwater · local government · IA6309061 | 427 served |
| WHEEL ESTATES MHC buys groundwater · private · IA6342301 | 315 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 35 people were held in Marion County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 168 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 38.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Marion County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $51.8 million — $30.4 million to run schools, about $12,217 per student, plus $18.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.7 million local (mostly property tax), $17.6 million state, $1.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $60 million.
Spent $33.6 million — $22.2 million to run schools, about $13,254 per student, plus $8.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.4 million local (mostly property tax), $16.4 million state, $2.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $34.5 million.
Spent $12.1 million — $9.1 million to run schools, about $11,675 per student, plus $2.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.2 million local (mostly property tax), $6.4 million state, $612,000 federal. Long-term debt: $10.6 million.
Spent $6.9 million — $4.4 million to run schools, about $12,235 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.2 million local (mostly property tax), $3.1 million state, $655,000 federal. Long-term debt: $60,000.
Spent $10.4 million — $4.3 million to run schools, about $13,042 per student, plus $5.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.5 million local (mostly property tax), $3 million state, $500,000 federal. Long-term debt: $5.6 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 Marion County about $14.2 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.
217 bridges in Marion County: 82 in good condition, 107 fair, and 28 poor (12.9%). “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 ENGLISH CREEK · built 1975 | 2,640 vehicles a day |
| FM over BNSF RR AND STREAM · built 1964 | 2,620 vehicles a day |
| MAIN ST over OVER UP RR · built 1940 | 1,210 vehicles a day |
| FM over LONG BRANCH CREEK · built 1967 | 880 vehicles a day |
| FM over COMPETINE CREEK · built 1967 | 710 vehicles a day |
| G76 over SMALL STREAM · built 1964 | 500 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $12.6 million of work in Marion County in fiscal 2025, about $376 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 Marion 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 Marion County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Mahaska County (24 mi) · Monroe County (24 mi) · Lucas County (24 mi) · Jasper County (25 mi) · Warren County (25 mi) · Polk County (35 mi).