36,909 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.2% since 2020)
716 square miles of land · 52 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.
24 active community water systems list Webster County in the area they serve, reporting 37,997 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| FORT DODGE WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA9433050 | 25,874 served |
| XENIA RWD (NORTH) groundwater · private · IA9425701 | 6,122 served |
| GOWRIE MUNI UTILITIES WATER DEPT groundwater · local government · IA9436095 | 954 served |
| DAYTON MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA9425011 | 772 served |
| BADGER WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA9405082 | 561 served |
| OTHO WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA9464008 | 431 served |
| PALACE PARK MHC buys groundwater · private · IA9433601 | 426 served |
| LEHIGH WATER SUPPLY groundwater · local government · IA9453071 | 395 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 73 people were held in Webster County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 311 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 30.
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 Webster County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $54.2 million — $45.9 million to run schools, about $12,486 per student, plus $4.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $22.9 million local (mostly property tax), $34.9 million state, $9.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $32.4 million.
Spent $11.4 million — $8.3 million to run schools, about $14,863 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3.9 million state, $344,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.2 million.
Spent $10.5 million — $7.9 million to run schools, about $15,011 per student, plus $772,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.5 million local (mostly property tax), $3.8 million state, $367,000 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Webster County about $24.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
190 bridges in Webster County: 87 in good condition, 55 fair, and 48 poor (25.3%). “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.
| 5TH AVE over DRAINAGE DITCH · built 1955 | 8,894 vehicles a day |
| N 15TH ST over SOLDIER CREEK · built 1974 | 8,798 vehicles a day |
| E HAWKEYE AVE over DES MOINES RIVER · built 1987 | 6,875 vehicles a day |
| NORTH 3RD ST over SOLDIER CREEK & TRAIL · built 1961 | 5,768 vehicles a day |
| N 7TH ST over SOLDIER CREEK · built 1995 | 5,546 vehicles a day |
| US 169 over BASS CREEK · built 1958 | 4,680 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $29.1 million of work in Webster County in fiscal 2025, about $787 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 Webster 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 Webster County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Iowa: the state government and every county in Iowa.
Nearby counties: Hamilton County (24 mi) · Calhoun County (24 mi) · Humboldt County (24 mi) · Greene County (29 mi) · Boone County (30 mi) · Wright County (31 mi).