5,853 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.1% since 2020)
721 square miles of land · 8 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.
7 active community water systems list Ottawa County in the area they serve, reporting 5,267 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MINNEAPOLIS, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2014301 | 1,948 served |
| OTTAWA CO RWD 2 groundwater · local government · KS2014307 | 1,794 served |
| BENNINGTON, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2014303 | 635 served |
| DELPHOS, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2014305 | 306 served |
| TESCOTT, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2014302 | 271 served |
| OTTAWA CO RWD 1 groundwater · local government · KS2014304 | 198 served |
| CULVER, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2014306 | 115 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 48 people were held in Ottawa County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 1,361 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 29.
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 Ottawa County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $10.5 million — $9.4 million to run schools, about $14,717 per student, plus $729,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $8.1 million state, $702,000 federal. Long-term debt: $11.7 million.
Spent $13.8 million — $8.9 million to run schools, about $14,667 per student, plus $4.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.8 million local (mostly property tax), $7.5 million state, $864,000 federal. Long-term debt: $6.6 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 Ottawa County about $6.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
295 bridges in Ottawa County: 120 in good condition, 164 fair, and 11 poor (3.7%). “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.
| L.7-13.6 MINOR over PIPE CREEK · built 1915 | 400 vehicles a day |
| RS 187 over CREEK · built 1971 | 300 vehicles a day |
| Q-1.4 MINOR over STREAM · built 1930 | 50 vehicles a day |
| C.4-21.2 LOCAL over STREAM · built 1930 | 40 vehicles a day |
| P-11.8 LOCAL over LINDSEY CREEK · built 1940 | 40 vehicles a day |
| J.5-3.6 LOCAL over HENRY 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 $15.6 million of work in Ottawa County in fiscal 2025, about $2,715 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 Ottawa 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 Ottawa County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kansas: the state government and every county in Kansas.
Nearby counties: Saline County (24 mi) · Cloud County (24 mi) · Clay County (30 mi) · Lincoln County (31 mi) · Dickinson County (32 mi) · Mitchell County (34 mi).