7,217 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.0% since 2020)
485 square miles of land · 15 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.
8 active community water systems list Van Buren County in the area they serve, reporting 36,195 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| RATHBUN REGIONAL WATER ASSN (RATHBUN) surface water · private · IA0400900 | 33,000 served |
| KEOSAUQUA WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · IA8938026 | 961 served |
| FARMINGTON WATER SUPPLY buys groundwater · local government · IA8930038 | 601 served |
| BONAPARTE WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · IA8914031 | 390 served |
| MILTON WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · IA8954084 | 380 served |
| BIRMINGHAM WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · IA8909011 | 367 served |
| STOCKPORT WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · IA8973095 | 272 served |
| CANTRIL WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · IA8920001 | 224 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 5 people were held in Van Buren County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 119 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 4.
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.
1 school district has its office in Van Buren County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $18.7 million — $12.3 million to run schools, about $14,130 per student, plus $4.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.2 million local (mostly property tax), $8.6 million state, $2.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.8 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 Van Buren County about $8.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
155 bridges in Van Buren County: 37 in good condition, 69 fair, and 49 poor (31.6%). “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.
| W40 over DES MOINES RIVER · built 1960 | 970 vehicles a day |
| FM over STREAM · built 1956 | 260 vehicles a day |
| FM over CREEK · built 1966 | 70 vehicles a day |
| FM over ROCK CREEK · built 1953 | 70 vehicles a day |
| LOCAL over TRIB OF DES MOINES RIVER · built 1954 | 62 vehicles a day |
| LOCAL over REEDS CR · built 1959 | 62 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $7.2 million of work in Van Buren County in fiscal 2025, about $996 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 Van Buren 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 Van Buren County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Jefferson County (17 mi) · Scotland County, MO (23 mi) · Davis County (24 mi) · Lee County (26 mi) · Henry County (27 mi) · Clark County, MO (27 mi).