84,082 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.6% since 2020)
293 square miles of land · 287 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.
12 active community water systems list Howard County in the area they serve, reporting 64,279 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| INDIANA AMERICAN WATER - KOKOMO surface water · private · IN5234007 | 59,313 served |
| GREENTOWN MUNICIPAL WATER groundwater · local government · IN5234006 | 2,500 served |
| INDIANA AMERICAN WATER - RUSSIAVILLE groundwater · local government · IN5234008 | 1,178 served |
| OAK BROOK ESTATES groundwater · private · IN5234003 | 455 served |
| WESTERN ESTATES MOBILE HOME PARK groundwater · private · IN5234002 | 248 served |
| TIMBERNEST TOWNHOUSES groundwater · private · IN5234014 | 175 served |
| THE OAKS OF KOKOMO groundwater · private · IN5234001 | 150 served |
| VILLAGE GREEN MOBILE HOME PARK groundwater · private · IN5234009 | 102 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 352 people were held in Howard County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 688 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 436.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Howard County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $79.3 million — $66.5 million to run schools, about $12,699 per student, plus $8.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.8 million local (mostly property tax), $41.5 million state, $16.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $87.3 million.
Spent $36.5 million — $29.5 million to run schools, about $11,600 per student, plus $6.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.8 million local (mostly property tax), $22.6 million state, $4.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $24 million.
Spent $29.6 million — $20.9 million to run schools, about $11,253 per student, plus $7.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9 million local (mostly property tax), $16.1 million state, $1.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $12.1 million.
Spent $22.1 million — $17.5 million to run schools, about $10,726 per student, plus $2.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.9 million local (mostly property tax), $13.8 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $34.6 million.
Spent $18.7 million — $15.4 million to run schools, about $11,822 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.4 million local (mostly property tax), $12 million state, $1.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.4 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 Howard County about $23.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
194 bridges in Howard County: 76 in good condition, 107 fair, and 11 poor (5.7%). “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.
| UNION ST over WILDCAT CREEK · built 1958 | 6,909 vehicles a day |
| DEFENBAUGH ST over KOKOMO CREEK · built 1970 | 6,263 vehicles a day |
| DEFENBAUGH STREET over LOCAL PLANT PASS ROAD · built 1965 | 5,200 vehicles a day |
| LAFOUNTAIN ST over KOKOMO CREEK · built 1940 | 4,492 vehicles a day |
| CR 300 E over WILDCAT CREEK · built 1958 | 1,800 vehicles a day |
| CR 350 W over LITTLE WILDCAT CREEK · built 1967 | 494 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $272.5 million of work in Howard County in fiscal 2025, about $3,257 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 Indiana 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 Howard 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 Howard County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Indiana: the state government and every county in Indiana.
Nearby counties: Tipton County (12 mi) · Miami County (20 mi) · Cass County (23 mi) · Clinton County (23 mi) · Grant County (24 mi) · Carroll County (25 mi).