102,498 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.9% since 2020)
573 square miles of land · 179 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 Story County in the area they serve, reporting 158,628 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| AMES WATER TREATMENT PLANT groundwater · local government · IA8503039 | 55,177 served |
| ISU buys groundwater · state · IA8503528 | 42,000 served |
| IA REGIONAL UTILITIES ASSOC (WAVERLY) groundwater · private · IA0990701 | 37,820 served |
| NEVADA WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA8562044 | 6,925 served |
| HUXLEY WATERWORKS DEPT groundwater · local government · IA8538066 | 4,244 served |
| STORY CITY WATER DEPT groundwater · local government · IA8584000 | 3,357 served |
| SLATER MUNI WATER DEPT buys groundwater · local government · IA8580057 | 1,548 served |
| ROLAND WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA8570001 | 1,394 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 49 people were held in Story County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 67 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 78.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Story County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $87 million — $62.1 million to run schools, about $13,278 per student, plus $18.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $55 million local (mostly property tax), $32.4 million state, $5.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $112.1 million.
Spent $26.5 million — $23.1 million to run schools, about $11,725 per student, plus $1.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13 million local (mostly property tax), $16.1 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $29.4 million.
Spent $23.6 million — $20.2 million to run schools, about $11,902 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.5 million local (mostly property tax), $12.4 million state, $719,000 federal. Long-term debt: $30.2 million.
Spent $22.8 million — $19.4 million to run schools, about $12,613 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.6 million local (mostly property tax), $12.3 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.3 million.
Spent $17.8 million — $12.9 million to run schools, about $11,491 per student, plus $3.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.5 million local (mostly property tax), $8.3 million state, $942,000 federal. Long-term debt: $9.2 million.
Spent $9.3 million — $5.4 million to run schools, about $13,189 per student, plus $2.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.4 million local (mostly property tax), $4 million state, $362,000 federal. Long-term debt: $12.5 million.
Spent $8.4 million — $5.8 million to run schools, about $14,910 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5 million local (mostly property tax), $3.5 million state, $844,000 federal. Long-term debt: $13.9 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 Story County about $36.1 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.
302 bridges in Story County: 102 in good condition, 160 fair, and 40 poor (13.2%). “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.
| LINCOLN WAY over IOWAY CREEK · built 1957 | 8,224 vehicles a day |
| E15/115TH ST over LONG DICK CREEK · built 1964 | 1,028 vehicles a day |
| 8TH ST over W BR INDIAN CREEK · built 1936 | 535 vehicles a day |
| 590TH AVE over GRANT 5 OPEN DITCH · built 1938 | 230 vehicles a day |
| 325TH ST over ROCK CREEK OVERFLOW · built 1953 | 190 vehicles a day |
| 280TH ST over GRANT 5 OPEN DITCH EXT · built 1916 | 131 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $174 million of work in Story County in fiscal 2025, about $1,766 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 Story 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 Story County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Boone County (24 mi) · Marshall County (25 mi) · Polk County (25 mi) · Hardin County (27 mi) · Hamilton County (27 mi) · Jasper County (32 mi).