53,199 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.1% since 2020)
584 square miles of land · 91 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.
20 active community water systems list Jackson County in the area they serve, reporting 56,868 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CARBONDALE surface water · local government · IL0770150 | 22,107 served |
| MURPHYSBORO buys surface water · local government · IL0770500 | 10,241 served |
| SOUTH HIGHWAY PWD buys surface water · local government · IL0775400 | 4,972 served |
| MURDALE PWD buys surface water · local government · IL0775200 | 4,963 served |
| LAKESIDE PWD buys surface water · local government · IL0775150 | 3,065 served |
| DE SOTO buys surface water · local government · IL0770200 | 1,910 served |
| DOWELL buys surface water · local government · IL0770250 | 1,188 served |
| GORHAM buys surface water · local government · IL0770350 | 1,143 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 139 people were held in Jackson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 398 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 119.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Jackson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $42.9 million — $31.6 million to run schools, about $16,403 per student, plus $3.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11 million local (mostly property tax), $27.7 million state, $8.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.4 million.
Spent $38.2 million — $34.5 million to run schools, about $22,298 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $18.2 million local (mostly property tax), $14.8 million state, $7.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.1 million.
Spent $26.9 million — $20.1 million to run schools, about $20,181 per student, plus $5.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.2 million local (mostly property tax), $9.5 million state, $5.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $441,000.
Spent $17 million — $13.3 million to run schools, about $15,421 per student, plus $2.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.1 million local (mostly property tax), $11.9 million state, $3.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.5 million.
Spent $9.9 million — $9.1 million to run schools, about $14,226 per student, plus $111,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3 million local (mostly property tax), $6.7 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.3 million.
Spent $4.3 million — $3.5 million to run schools, about $14,498 per student, plus $504,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $940,000 federal. Long-term debt: $550,000.
Spent $4 million — $3.2 million to run schools, about $18,044 per student, plus $584,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.4 million state, $291,000 federal. Long-term debt: $895,000.
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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Jackson County about $50 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
228 bridges in Jackson County: 150 in good condition, 62 fair, and 16 poor (7.0%). “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.
| IL-13 EB over Big Muddy River · built 2014 | 16,600 vehicles a day |
| US 51 over CNIC RR · built 1983 | 5,150 vehicles a day |
| FAU 9707 (UNMARKED over CRABORCHARD CREEK · built 1920 | 3,500 vehicles a day |
| CH 13-CHATAUQUA ST over LITTLE CRAB ORCH CR · built 1976 | 2,700 vehicles a day |
| COLLEGE ST over PILES FORK · built 1971 | 1,700 vehicles a day |
| FAS 1919-CH 30 over INDIAN CREEK · built 1982 | 1,300 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $43.4 million of work in Jackson County in fiscal 2025, about $819 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 Jackson 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 Jackson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Illinois: the state government and every county in Illinois.
Nearby counties: Perry County (21 mi) · Union County (22 mi) · Perry County, MO (24 mi) · Williamson County (25 mi) · Franklin County (29 mi) · Randolph County (30 mi).