5,984 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.6% since 2020)
222 square miles of land · 27 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.
4 active community water systems list Edwards County in the area they serve, reporting 6,247 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ALBION groundwater · local government · IL0470050 | 2,839 served |
| ELLERY WATER CORP buys groundwater · private · IL0470010 | 2,380 served |
| WEST SALEM buys groundwater · local government · IL0470200 | 819 served |
| BONE GAP buys groundwater · local government · IL0470100 | 209 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 12 people were held in Edwards County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 322 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 14.
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 Edwards County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $13.5 million — $12.1 million to run schools, about $14,485 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.1 million local (mostly property tax), $8.9 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.6 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 Edwards County about $6.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
79 bridges in Edwards County: 51 in good condition, 22 fair, and 6 poor (7.6%). “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.
| CITY STREET over BUTTER CREEK · built 1909 | 200 vehicles a day |
| TR 24 over BIG CREEK · built 2002 | 75 vehicles a day |
| TR-229 over STINKING CREEK · built 1977 | 50 vehicles a day |
| TR-136A over INDIAN CREEK · built 1977 | 50 vehicles a day |
| TR-123 over DRAINAGE DITCH · built 1909 | 25 vehicles a day |
| TR-223 over STINKING CREEK · built 1909 | 25 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.4 million of work in Edwards County in fiscal 2025, about $386 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 Edwards 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 Edwards County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Illinois: the state government and every county in Illinois.
Nearby counties: Wabash County (11 mi) · Richland County (20 mi) · Wayne County (21 mi) · White County (24 mi) · Gibson County, IN (26 mi) · Lawrence County (27 mi).