35,681 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.0% since 2020)
432 square miles of land · 83 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 Wapello County in the area they serve, reporting 44,794 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| OTTUMWA WATER WORKS surface water · local government · IA9083012 | 25,529 served |
| WAPELLO RURAL WATER ASSOC. buys surface water · private · IA9000742 | 17,263 served |
| ELDON WATER SUPPLY buys groundwater · local government · IA9053004 | 927 served |
| AGENCY WATER WORKS buys groundwater · local government · IA9003006 | 620 served |
| BLAKESBURG MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · IA9027014 | 305 served |
| LEISURE LIVING MANF HOME COMMUNITY buys surface water · private · IA9083602 | 150 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 102 people were held in Wapello County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 457 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 94.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Wapello County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $84.5 million — $61.4 million to run schools, about $12,314 per student, plus $17.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $16.5 million local (mostly property tax), $51.8 million state, $14 million federal. Long-term debt: $21.5 million.
Spent $17.8 million — $13 million to run schools, about $12,118 per student, plus $4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.2 million local (mostly property tax), $6.3 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.3 million.
Spent $15.6 million — $13.3 million to run schools, about $13,838 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.4 million local (mostly property tax), $6.7 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $113,000.
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 Wapello County about $24.1 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.
190 bridges in Wapello County: 89 in good condition, 76 fair, and 25 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.
| FM over VILLAGE CREEK · built 1961 | 950 vehicles a day |
| FM over DES MOINES RIVER · built 1957 | 880 vehicles a day |
| 100TH ST over SUGAR CREEK · built 1950 | 270 vehicles a day |
| FM over VILLAGE CREEK · built 1968 | 250 vehicles a day |
| LOCAL over OVER BNSF RR · built 1994 | 187 vehicles a day |
| SHERIDAN AVE over DRAINAGE · built 1983 | 118 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 Wapello County in fiscal 2025, about $649 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 Wapello 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 Wapello County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Davis County (20 mi) · Jefferson County (23 mi) · Mahaska County (24 mi) · Monroe County (24 mi) · Keokuk County (24 mi) · Van Buren County (31 mi).