6,620 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.8% since 2020)
886 square miles of land · 7 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.
12 active community water systems list Russell County in the area they serve, reporting 7,108 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| RUSSELL, CITY OF surface water · local government · KS2016703 | 4,388 served |
| RUSSELL CO RWD 3 buys groundwater · local government · KS2016704 | 1,355 served |
| GORHAM, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · KS2016713 | 381 served |
| LUCAS, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2016702 | 337 served |
| LURAY, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · KS2016701 | 167 served |
| DORRANCE, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · KS2016711 | 145 served |
| BUNKER HILL, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2016712 | 106 served |
| RUSSELL CO RWD 4 groundwater · local government · KS2016705 | 90 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 24 people were held in Russell County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 617 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 18.
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 Russell County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $14.7 million — $13.6 million to run schools, about $17,441 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $9.5 million state, $2.5 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.
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 Russell County about $5.8 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.
261 bridges in Russell County: 113 in good condition, 144 fair, and 4 poor (1.5%). “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.
| RS 1456 182ND ST. over LANDON CREEK · built 1957 | 175 vehicles a day |
| MITCHELL RD. RS 47 over DRY STREAM · built 1950 | 70 vehicles a day |
| RS 48 179TH ST. over TRIB TO SMOKY HILL RIVER · built 1973 | 70 vehicles a day |
| I-70 RD. over FOSSIL CREEK · built 1982 | 60 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $21.9 million of work in Russell County in fiscal 2025, about $3,275 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 Russell 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 Russell County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kansas: the state government and every county in Kansas.
Nearby counties: Ellis County (29 mi) · Osborne County (30 mi) · Barton County (30 mi) · Lincoln County (31 mi) · Ellsworth County (34 mi) · Rush County (40 mi).