34,186 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.0% since 2020)
1,126 square miles of land · 30 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.
15 active community water systems list Cowley County in the area they serve, reporting 33,556 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ARKANSAS CITY, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2003509 | 11,929 served |
| WINFIELD, CITY OF surface water · local government · KS2003513 | 11,726 served |
| COWLEY CO RWD 3 groundwater · local government · KS2003505 | 2,500 served |
| COWLEY CO RWD 5 buys surface water · local government · KS2003508 | 2,000 served |
| COWLEY CO RWD 1 groundwater · local government · KS2003507 | 1,500 served |
| COWLEY CO RWD 6 groundwater · local government · KS2003506 | 792 served |
| UDALL, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2003510 | 658 served |
| COWLEY CO RWD 2 buys surface water · local government · KS2003512 | 600 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 97 people were held in Cowley County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 450 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 106.
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 Cowley County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $42.1 million — $39.3 million to run schools, about $13,624 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.5 million local (mostly property tax), $37.8 million state, $5.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $26 million.
Spent $48.9 million — $48 million to run schools, about $21,663 per student, plus $832,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $16.3 million local (mostly property tax), $25.9 million state, $8.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.5 million.
Spent $6.4 million — $5.6 million to run schools, about $17,214 per student, plus $611,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.6 million local (mostly property tax), $4.2 million state, $674,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4.6 million.
Spent $5.3 million — $5.1 million to run schools, about $17,297 per student, plus $102,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.1 million local (mostly property tax), $4.1 million state, $597,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4.9 million.
Spent $4.4 million — $4 million to run schools, about $14,155 per student, plus $321,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.1 million local (mostly property tax), $3.7 million state, $292,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.3 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Cowley County about $27 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
340 bridges in Cowley County: 129 in good condition, 193 fair, and 18 poor (5.3%). “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.
| US160 HWY over WALNUT RIVER · built 1957 | 5,075 vehicles a day |
| 11th RD over ARKANSAS RIVER · built 1945 | 855 vehicles a day |
| 101st RD over TIMBER CREEK · built 1923 | 350 vehicles a day |
| 262nd RD over TRIB. TO ARKANSAS RIVER · built 1935 | 100 vehicles a day |
| 172nd RD over TRIB. TO TIMBER CREEK · built 1906 | 50 vehicles a day |
| MINOR 4S-17-35-3 over CREEK · built 1912 | 45 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $15.9 million of work in Cowley County in fiscal 2025, about $461 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 Cowley 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 Cowley County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kansas: the state government and every county in Kansas.
Nearby counties: Chautauqua County (33 mi) · Kay County, OK (33 mi) · Elk County (36 mi) · Sumner County (36 mi) · Butler County (37 mi) · Sedgwick County (46 mi).