177,108 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.4% since 2020)
448 square miles of land · 396 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.
24 active community water systems list Carroll County in the area they serve, reporting 97,162 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CITY OF WESTMINSTER surface water · local government · MD0060015 | 35,256 served |
| FREEDOM DISTRICT surface water · local government · MD0060002 | 24,867 served |
| TOWN OF MOUNT AIRY groundwater · local government · MD0060007 | 9,890 served |
| CITY OF TANEYTOWN groundwater · local government · MD0060012 | 6,750 served |
| TOWN OF HAMPSTEAD groundwater · local government · MD0060003 | 6,600 served |
| TOWN OF MANCHESTER groundwater · local government · MD0060006 | 4,954 served |
| WAKEFIELD VALLEY groundwater (surface-influenced) · private · MD0060017 | 2,436 served |
| TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR groundwater · local government · MD0060008 | 1,732 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 187 people were held in Carroll County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 167 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 184.
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 Carroll County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $452.2 million — $426.7 million to run schools, about $16,548 per student, plus $20.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $253.2 million local (mostly property tax), $181 million state, $25.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $102 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Carroll County about $32.3 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.
205 bridges in Carroll County: 57 in good condition, 138 fair, and 10 poor (4.9%). “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.
| MD 26 over LIBERTY RESERVOIR · built 1954 | 20,192 vehicles a day |
| STONE CHAPEL ROAD over LITTLE PIPE CREEK · built 1930 | 4,612 vehicles a day |
| UPPER BECKLEYSVILL over MURPHY RUN · built 1960 | 1,745 vehicles a day |
| BROWN ROAD over ROARING RUN · built 1985 | 395 vehicles a day |
| MUMMAFORD ROAD over MONOCACY RIVER · built 1911 | 268 vehicles a day |
| MCKINSTRY MILL RD over LITTLE PIPE CREEK · built 1900 | 234 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $47.6 million of work in Carroll County in fiscal 2025, about $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 Maryland 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 Carroll 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 Carroll County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Maryland: the state government and every county in Maryland.
Nearby counties: Frederick County (21 mi) · Howard County (22 mi) · Baltimore County (23 mi) · Adams County, PA (24 mi) · Baltimore city (28 mi) · York County, PA (29 mi).