Kansas · county 20089

Jewell County, Kansas: public records at a glance

What national public records say about Jewell County — people, schools, health, drinking water, bridges, disaster risk, the jail, federal grants and how to vote — each with its source. A full County Commons site (the budget line by line, your tax bill, audits, local offices) isn't built for Jewell County yet — not gathered, never hidden.

2,899 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.0% since 2020)
910 square miles of land · 3 people per square mile

How Jewell County compares — against the other counties in Kansas

“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.

Drinking water — public water systems serving Jewell County

7 active community water systems list Jewell County in the area they serve, reporting 2,554 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).

JEWELL CO RWD 1
groundwater · local government · KS2008907
959 served
MANKATO, CITY OF
groundwater · local government · KS2008903
848 served
JEWELL, CITY OF
buys surface water · local government · KS2008902
365 served
BURR OAK, CITY OF
groundwater · local government · KS2008906
142 served
FORMOSO, CITY OF
buys groundwater · local government · KS2008905
92 served
RANDALL, CITY OF
buys surface water · local government · KS2008901
80 served
ESBON, CITY OF
groundwater · local government · KS2008904
68 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.

The jail — people held in the county jail

About 3 people were held in Jewell County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 192 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2013 it was about 4.

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.

Public schools — district budgets, fiscal 2023

1 school district has its office in Jewell County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.

ROCK HILL UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 107385 students

Spent $6.4 million — $5.6 million to run schools, about $14,538 per student, plus $726,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.1 million local (mostly property tax), $4.1 million state, $1.2 million 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.

Health, money and internet at home — Jewell County beside Kansas

Life expectancy80.1 years · Kansas 76.4 years
Adults under 65 without health insurance11.7% · Kansas 10.2%
Children in poverty17.3% · Kansas 13.1%
Households without enough food (food insecurity)15.6% · Kansas 13.1%
Households with broadband internet81.0% · Kansas 89.3%
Households with severe housing problems8.9% · Kansas 12.3%
Unemployment2.8% · Kansas 2.7%
Median household income$56,505 · Kansas $70,316

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.

Disaster risk — FEMA's National Risk Index

Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Jewell County about $7.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.

The costliest hazards here

Hail$3.3 million a year · Relatively High
River and inland flooding$1.5 million a year · Very Low
Strong wind$945,872 a year · Relatively Moderate
Tornado$719,979 a year · Relatively Low
Drought$599,423 a year · Relatively Moderate

Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.

Bridges — condition of every public bridge, 2025

307 bridges in Jewell County: 169 in good condition, 117 fair, and 21 poor (6.8%). “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.

Busiest bridges rated poor

K-14 HWY
over MIDDLE BUFFALO CREEK · built 1941
1,133 vehicles a day
K28 HWY
over BUFFALO CREEK DRAINAGE · built 1978
215 vehicles a day
RS 345 BSN 500
over TRIB. TO WHITE ROCK CK. · built 1962
143 vehicles a day
LOCAL P-22.7
over WEST MARSH CREEK · built 1930
45 vehicles a day
LOCAL N.7-10.0
over TRIB. TO LIMESTONE CREEK · built 1940
35 vehicles a day
LOCAL O-10.1
over TRIB. TO LIMESTONE CREEK · built 1955
35 vehicles a day

Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.

Federal grants — the money that came in, and what's open now

Federal grants paid for $3.6 million of work in Jewell County in fiscal 2025, about $1,241 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.

Open now: federal grants county governments can apply for

F26AS00062: Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act FY 2026
Fish and Wildlife Service · F26AS00062
closes 2026-10-13
OVC FY 2026 Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking
Office for Victims of Crime · O-OVC-2026-172699
closes 2026-10-14
BJA FY 2026 Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Program
Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172661
closes 2026-10-15
FY26 Bureau of Land Management Youth Conservation Corps - Bureau wide
Bureau of Land Management · L26AS00064
closes 2026-10-16
FY 2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) FAA Contract Tower (FCT) Competitive Grant Program
Airport Improvement Program Discretionary Grants · DOT-FAA-26-0117-002
closes 2026-10-19
Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Service Area Competition (SAC)
Health Resources and Services Administration · HRSA-27-005
closes 2026-10-19
Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP Competition
AmeriCorps · AC-08-20-2026
closes 2026-10-20
DOJ FY 2026 Assisting Neighborhoods and Governments with Enforcement of Laws (ANGEL) Grant Program
Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172778
closes 2026-10-20
Long-term health outcomes of people living with spina bifida
Centers for Disease Control - NCBDDD · CDC-RFA-DD-26-0222
closes 2026-10-26
OJJDP FY 2026 Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program
Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention · O-OJJDP-2026-172741
closes 2026-10-29
BJA FY 2026 Veterans Treatment Court Program
Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172714
closes 2026-10-29
BJA FY 2026 Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA
Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172708
closes 2026-10-29

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.

Voting

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.

Not here yet

The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Jewell 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 Jewell County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.

More of Kansas: the state government and every county in Kansas.

Nearby counties: Mitchell County (27 mi) · Nuckolls County, NE (29 mi) · Smith County (30 mi) · Republic County (31 mi) · Webster County, NE (31 mi) · Cloud County (37 mi).