177,942 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.4% since 2020)
544 square miles of land · 327 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.
9 active community water systems list Shawnee County in the area they serve, reporting 154,792 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| TOPEKA, CITY OF surface water · local government · KS2017701 | 125,963 served |
| SHAWNEE CO RWD 4C buys surface water · local government · KS2017718 | 12,000 served |
| SHAWNEE CO RWD 8 buys surface water · local government · KS2017708 | 6,073 served |
| SHAWNEE CO RWD 1C buys surface water · local government · KS2017704 | 4,160 served |
| SHAWNEE CO RWD 3C buys surface water · local government · KS2017717 | 2,960 served |
| SILVER LAKE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2017714 | 1,337 served |
| ROSSVILLE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · KS2017712 | 1,099 served |
| SHAWNEE CO RWD 2C buys surface water · local government · KS2017713 | 700 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 555 people were held in Shawnee County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 508 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 553.
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 Shawnee County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $235.7 million — $221.5 million to run schools, about $17,228 per student, plus $8.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $31.1 million local (mostly property tax), $156.7 million state, $51 million federal. Long-term debt: $146.5 million.
Spent $103 million — $77 million to run schools, about $12,682 per student, plus $23 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $25.9 million local (mostly property tax), $59.4 million state, $8.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $42 million.
Spent $51.1 million — $47.4 million to run schools, about $12,171 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.3 million local (mostly property tax), $40.1 million state, $4 million federal. Long-term debt: $50.6 million.
Spent $51.7 million — $46.3 million to run schools, about $12,340 per student, plus $4.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.6 million local (mostly property tax), $40 million state, $4.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.9 million.
Spent $11.2 million — $10.1 million to run schools, about $14,666 per student, plus $939,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $8.3 million state, $503,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4.3 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: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Shawnee County about $74.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
564 bridges in Shawnee County: 357 in good condition, 189 fair, and 18 poor (3.2%). “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.
| I70 HWY NL-SL over 8 STREETS 3 RR · built 1963 | 18,958 vehicles a day |
| URB5561 CALIF over I70 HWY NL-SL · built 1964 | 12,255 vehicles a day |
| US24 HWY NB-SB over FURMAN ROAD · built 1956 | 9,132 vehicles a day |
| SW 57th St. over S. Shunganunga Cr. · built 1962 | 6,245 vehicles a day |
| US-24 HWY over CROSS CREEK · built 1998 | 4,443 vehicles a day |
| N.W. 35TH. ST. 165 over TRIB. TO SOLDIER CREEK · built 1966 | 1,000 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $584.3 million of work in Shawnee County in fiscal 2025, about $3,266 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 Shawnee 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 Shawnee County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kansas: the state government and every county in Kansas.
Nearby counties: Jefferson County (25 mi) · Wabaunsee County (25 mi) · Jackson County (26 mi) · Douglas County (27 mi) · Osage County (27 mi) · Pottawatomie County (39 mi).