6,316 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.9% since 2020)
716 square miles of land · 9 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.
6 active community water systems list Ellsworth County in the area they serve, reporting 7,958 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ELLSWORTH CO RWD 1 surface water · local government · KS2005309 | 3,128 served |
| ELLSWORTH, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · KS2005306 | 2,992 served |
| WILSON, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2005301 | 836 served |
| KANOPOLIS, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2005304 | 453 served |
| HOLYROOD, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2005305 | 409 served |
| LORRAINE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2005303 | 140 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 15 people were held in Ellsworth County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 372 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 17.
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.
1 school district has its office in Ellsworth County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $9.6 million — $8.9 million to run schools, about $13,888 per student, plus $556,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.5 million local (mostly property tax), $7.2 million state, $714,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.7 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Ellsworth County about $7.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
255 bridges in Ellsworth County: 123 in good condition, 126 fair, and 6 poor (2.4%). “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.
| K140 HWY over CLEAR CREEK DRAINAGE · built 1928 | 1,307 vehicles a day |
| K141 HWY over UP RR W SPRING CR · built 1963 | 700 vehicles a day |
| K232 HWY over WILSON CREEK · built 1962 | 598 vehicles a day |
| Ave D over COW CREEK · built 1959 | 35 vehicles a day |
| Ave W over TRIB. TO PLUM CREEK · built 1938 | 30 vehicles a day |
| Ave H over BUFFALO CREEK · built 1930 | 30 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $10 million of work in Ellsworth County in fiscal 2025, about $1,570 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 Ellsworth 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 Ellsworth County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kansas: the state government and every county in Kansas.
Nearby counties: Lincoln County (24 mi) · Rice County (24 mi) · Saline County (30 mi) · Barton County (34 mi) · Russell County (34 mi) · McPherson County (37 mi).