21,528 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.6% since 2020)
601 square miles of land · 36 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.
14 active community water systems list Jo Daviess County in the area they serve, reporting 15,063 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| GALENA groundwater · local government · IL0850200 | 3,308 served |
| IL AMERICAN-GALENA groundwater · private · IL0855050 | 2,294 served |
| STOCKTON groundwater · local government · IL0850450 | 1,728 served |
| EAST DUBUQUE groundwater · local government · IL0850100 | 1,565 served |
| WARREN groundwater · local government · IL0850500 | 1,323 served |
| IL AMERICAN-APPLE CANYON groundwater · private · IL0855150 | 931 served |
| HANOVER groundwater · local government · IL0850250 | 863 served |
| ELIZABETH groundwater · local government · IL0850150 | 802 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 9 people were held in Jo Daviess County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 73 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 13.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Jo Daviess County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $25.4 million — $14 million to run schools, about $16,999 per student, plus $10.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14 million local (mostly property tax), $5.1 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $13 million.
Spent $12.3 million — $9.4 million to run schools, about $14,810 per student, plus $2.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.7 million local (mostly property tax), $4.5 million state, $696,000 federal. Long-term debt: $7.2 million.
Spent $15.7 million — $9.2 million to run schools, about $16,745 per student, plus $6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.3 million local (mostly property tax), $4.1 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $4 million.
Spent $12.2 million — $11.1 million to run schools, about $24,113 per student, plus $590,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.6 million local (mostly property tax), $3.9 million state, $1.2 million federal.
Spent $7.6 million — $6.1 million to run schools, about $15,393 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.9 million local (mostly property tax), $2.6 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $9,000.
Spent $7.8 million — $6.8 million to run schools, about $26,475 per student, plus $718,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.5 million local (mostly property tax), $2 million state, $597,000 federal. Long-term debt: $5.7 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 Jo Daviess County about $15.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
192 bridges in Jo Daviess County: 86 in good condition, 85 fair, and 21 poor (10.9%). “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 20 over RUSH CREEK · built 1971 | 3,800 vehicles a day |
| TOWNSHIP ROAD NO. over MENOMINEE RIVER · built 1968 | 1,150 vehicles a day |
| IL 78 over DAVIS CREEK · built 1982 | 600 vehicles a day |
| E STAGECOACH ROAD over APPLE RIVER · built 1937 | 575 vehicles a day |
| CH-2 (DEWEY AVE) over HUGHLETTS BRANCH · built 1952 | 425 vehicles a day |
| TOWNSHIP ROAD NO. over SMALLPOX CREEK · built 1957 | 375 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $17.1 million of work in Jo Daviess County in fiscal 2025, about $778 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 Jo Daviess 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 Jo Daviess County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Illinois: the state government and every county in Illinois.
Nearby counties: Lafayette County, WI (21 mi) · Jackson County, IA (23 mi) · Carroll County (25 mi) · Stephenson County (28 mi) · Dubuque County, IA (35 mi) · Clinton County, IA (36 mi).