30,334 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.5% since 2020)
898 square miles of land · 34 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.
13 active community water systems list McPherson County in the area they serve, reporting 24,563 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MCPHERSON, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2011309 | 13,944 served |
| LINDSBORG, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2011308 | 3,496 served |
| MOUNDRIDGE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2011304 | 1,958 served |
| INMAN, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2011310 | 1,316 served |
| GALVA, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2011312 | 870 served |
| CANTON, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2011313 | 699 served |
| MCPHERSON CO RWD 4 buys groundwater · local government · KS2011305 | 636 served |
| MARQUETTE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2011302 | 596 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 50 people were held in McPherson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2022), or 269 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2017 it was about 39.
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 McPherson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $44.5 million — $42.8 million to run schools, about $18,527 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $20.4 million local (mostly property tax), $21.2 million state, $5 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.8 million.
Spent $12.9 million — $12.6 million to run schools, about $11,356 per student, plus $173,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.7 million local (mostly property tax), $9.7 million state, $603,000 federal.
Spent $22.2 million — $5.9 million to run schools, about $11,868 per student, plus $15.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.2 million local (mostly property tax), $4.7 million state, $373,000 federal. Long-term debt: $14.4 million.
Spent $6.9 million — $6.4 million to run schools, about $14,749 per student, plus $371,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.3 million local (mostly property tax), $4.4 million state, $440,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.6 million.
Spent $5.6 million — $5.2 million to run schools, about $15,390 per student, plus $198,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $3.5 million state, $511,000 federal. Long-term debt: $6.4 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 McPherson County about $20.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
587 bridges in McPherson County: 388 in good condition, 193 fair, and 6 poor (1.0%). “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.
| I135 US81 NB over UP RAILROAD · built 1969 | 7,338 vehicles a day |
| K61 HWY SB over RS0305 RT US81 ALT · built 1969 | 2,770 vehicles a day |
| RS 2031 ARAPAHO over TRIB. TO BLAZE FORK · built 1966 | 580 vehicles a day |
| KREHBIEL STREET over BLACK KETTLE CREEK · built 1936 | 120 vehicles a day |
| FRONTIER RD. over DRY TURKEY CREEK · built 1955 | 65 vehicles a day |
| FRONTIER RD. over TURKEY CREEK · built 1955 | 25 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $7.5 million of work in McPherson County in fiscal 2025, about $248 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 McPherson 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 McPherson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kansas: the state government and every county in Kansas.
Nearby counties: Harvey County (26 mi) · Saline County (27 mi) · Marion County (30 mi) · Rice County (30 mi) · Ellsworth County (37 mi) · Reno County (39 mi).