12,713 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.0% since 2020)
376 square miles of land · 34 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.
7 active community water systems list Cass County in the area they serve, reporting 11,133 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BEARDSTOWN groundwater · local government · IL0170150 | 5,951 served |
| VIRGINIA groundwater · local government · IL0170250 | 1,514 served |
| ASHLAND buys surface water · local government · IL0170100 | 1,333 served |
| CHANDLERVILLE groundwater · local government · IL0170200 | 838 served |
| ARENZVILLE RURAL WATER COOPERATIVE buys groundwater · private · IL0170080 | 675 served |
| ARENZVILLE groundwater · local government · IL0170050 | 419 served |
| CASS RURAL WATER DISTRICT buys groundwater · local government · IL0170010 | 403 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 6 people were held in Cass County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (1983), or 67 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 1978 it was about 2.
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 Cass County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $31.3 million — $18.2 million to run schools, about $12,096 per student, plus $11 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5 million local (mostly property tax), $17.3 million state, $4.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.2 million.
Spent $6.8 million — $5.4 million to run schools, about $15,765 per student, plus $846,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $2.8 million state, $863,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.1 million.
Spent $5.6 million — $4.6 million to run schools, about $14,227 per student, plus $261,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $688,000 federal. Long-term debt: $5 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 Cass County about $12.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
76 bridges in Cass County: 24 in good condition, 39 fair, and 13 poor (17.1%). “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.
| US 67 / IL 100 over ILLINOIS RIVER · built 1955 | 5,600 vehicles a day |
| FAS 579 over PRAIRIE CREEK · built 1960 | 1,750 vehicles a day |
| FAU 7779 over CLEAR CREEK · built 1968 | 1,650 vehicles a day |
| FAS577 over LOST CREEK · built 1936 | 650 vehicles a day |
| TR 26 over INDIAN CREEK · built 1971 | 275 vehicles a day |
| FAS 573 over PANTHER CREEK · built 1984 | 175 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $3.4 million of work in Cass County in fiscal 2025, about $259 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 Illinois 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 Cass 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 Cass County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Illinois: the state government and every county in Illinois.
Nearby counties: Morgan County (17 mi) · Schuyler County (23 mi) · Menard County (24 mi) · Mason County (25 mi) · Scott County (26 mi) · Brown County (27 mi).