16,508 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.1% since 2020)
445 square miles of land · 37 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 Parke County in the area they serve, reporting 8,911 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ROCKVILLE LIGHT & WATER groundwater · local government · IN5261006 | 4,195 served |
| MONTEZUMA MUNICIPAL UTILITY groundwater · local government · IN5261005 | 1,022 served |
| LYFORD WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IN5261002 | 1,000 served |
| INDIANA AMERICAN WATER - MECCA groundwater · local government · IN5261004 | 905 served |
| ROSEDALE WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IN5261007 | 810 served |
| BLOOMINGDALE WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IN5261001 | 562 served |
| MARSHALL WATER WORKS buys groundwater · local government · IN5261003 | 417 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 66 people were held in Parke County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 668 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 77.
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.
2 school districts have their office in Parke County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $23 million — $17.4 million to run schools, about $14,595 per student, plus $4.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.9 million local (mostly property tax), $11.8 million state, $2.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.4 million.
Spent $14.6 million — $13 million to run schools, about $12,772 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $9.3 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.3 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 Parke County about $7.9 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.
200 bridges in Parke County: 49 in good condition, 116 fair, and 35 poor (17.5%). “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.
| CR 900S over SPRING Creek · built 1941 | 908 vehicles a day |
| BRIDGETON Rd over WILLIAMS Creek · built 1945 | 904 vehicles a day |
| NEW DISCOVERY Rd over Little RACCOON Creek · built 1970 | 739 vehicles a day |
| NEW DISCOVERY Rd over WILLIAMS Creek · built 1900 | 737 vehicles a day |
| SHORTER Rd over STRANGERS Branch · built 1930 | 727 vehicles a day |
| FERNDALE Rd over Branch of Big RACCOON Cr · built 1958 | 536 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $677,197 of work in Parke County in fiscal 2025, about $42 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 Parke 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 Parke County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Indiana: the state government and every county in Indiana.
Nearby counties: Vermillion County (15 mi) · Putnam County (20 mi) · Fountain County (24 mi) · Montgomery County (24 mi) · Vigo County (26 mi) · Clay County (27 mi).