6,622 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.8% since 2020)
525 square miles of land · 13 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 Wayne County in the area they serve, reporting 36,392 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 |
| CORYDON WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · IA9334078 | 1,610 served |
| SEYMOUR MUNICIPAL UTILITY WATER DEPT buys surface water · local government · IA9368035 | 637 served |
| HUMESTON WATER PLANT buys surface water · local government · IA9348065 | 465 served |
| ALLERTON WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · IA9303024 | 430 served |
| LINEVILLE WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · IA9352084 | 250 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 15 people were held in Wayne County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 402 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 15.
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 Wayne County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $8.8 million — $8 million to run schools, about $12,872 per student, plus $479,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $4.9 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $2 million.
Spent $6.1 million — $3 million to run schools, about $13,318 per student, plus $2.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $498,000 federal. Long-term debt: $7.5 million.
Spent $4.9 million — $3.8 million to run schools, about $17,220 per student, plus $415,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $654,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.6 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 Wayne County about $5.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
165 bridges in Wayne County: 74 in good condition, 60 fair, and 31 poor (18.8%). “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.
| S 40 over DRAINAGE · built 1972 | 680 vehicles a day |
| FM over SHANCTON CREEK · built 1970 | 310 vehicles a day |
| FM over CHARITON RIVER · built 1958 | 90 vehicles a day |
| FM over WEST FORK LOCUST · built 1951 | 80 vehicles a day |
| LOCAL over STREAM · built 1967 | 60 vehicles a day |
| LOCAL over WALNUT CR · built 1973 | 50 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $5.3 million of work in Wayne County in fiscal 2025, about $811 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 Wayne 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 Wayne County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Lucas County (20 mi) · Decatur County (24 mi) · Appanoose County (24 mi) · Putnam County, MO (25 mi) · Mercer County, MO (25 mi) · Clarke County (31 mi).