16,249 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.5% since 2020)
431 square miles of land · 38 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.
8 active community water systems list Atchison County in the area they serve, reporting 16,583 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ATCHISON, CITY OF surface water · local government · KS2000506 | 10,694 served |
| ATCHISON CO RWD 5C buys surface water · local government · KS2000511 | 3,690 served |
| ATCHISON CO RWD 6 buys surface water · local government · KS2000510 | 693 served |
| EFFINGHAM, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2000502 | 500 served |
| ATCHISON CO RWD 1 buys surface water · local government · KS2000503 | 490 served |
| LANCASTER, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · KS2000507 | 248 served |
| MUSCOTAH, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2000508 | 158 served |
| ATCHISON CO RWD 3 buys surface water · local government · KS2000504 | 110 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 72 people were held in Atchison County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 679 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 65.
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 Atchison County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $22.8 million — $21.4 million to run schools, about $14,234 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5 million local (mostly property tax), $18 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.9 million.
Spent $8.7 million — $7.7 million to run schools, about $14,887 per student, plus $998,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.5 million local (mostly property tax), $5.4 million state, $661,000 federal.
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 Atchison County about $9.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
197 bridges in Atchison County: 83 in good condition, 97 fair, and 17 poor (8.6%). “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.
| US-59 HWY over RS1290 · built 1955 | 2,905 vehicles a day |
| RS 19 over STREAM · built 1920 | 854 vehicles a day |
| RS 1290 over STREAM · built 1936 | 440 vehicles a day |
| "U" STREET over US73 K7 HWY · built 1970 | 329 vehicles a day |
| RS 2105 over WALNUT CREEK · built 1922 | 108 vehicles a day |
| RS 23 over STREAM · built 1961 | 85 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $3.6 million of work in Atchison County in fiscal 2025, about $217 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 Kansas 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 Atchison 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 Atchison County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kansas: the state government and every county in Kansas.
Nearby counties: Doniphan County (20 mi) · Jefferson County (20 mi) · Brown County (24 mi) · Jackson County (27 mi) · Leavenworth County (28 mi) · Buchanan County, MO (28 mi).