174,478 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.7% since 2020)
458 square miles of land · 381 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.
49 active community water systems list Charles County in the area they serve, reporting 119,850 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WALDORF - CHARLES COUNTY DPW buys surface water · local government · MD0080049 | 84,296 served |
| TOWN OF LA PLATA groundwater · local government · MD0080025 | 11,535 served |
| BRYANS ROAD groundwater · local government · MD0080033 | 6,260 served |
| TOWN OF INDIAN HEAD groundwater · local government · MD0080020 | 4,100 served |
| NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY, INDIAN HEAD groundwater · federal · MD0080058 | 3,321 served |
| POTOMAC HEIGHTS groundwater · private · MD0080038 | 1,800 served |
| SWAN POINT groundwater · local government · MD0080046 | 945 served |
| CLIFFTON ON THE POTOMAC groundwater · local government · MD0080009 | 744 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 221 people were held in Charles County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 193 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 258.
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 Charles County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $521.2 million — $480.6 million to run schools, about $17,415 per student, plus $33.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $265.6 million local (mostly property tax), $275.2 million state, $42.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $88.2 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 Charles County about $22.5 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.
94 bridges in Charles County: 42 in good condition, 44 fair, and 8 poor (8.5%). “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.
| MD 225 over BR OF MATTAWOMAN CREEK · built 1951 | 8,750 vehicles a day |
| DAVIS ROAD over PINEY BRANCH · built 2000 | 4,644 vehicles a day |
| POPLAR HILL ROAD over ZEKIAH SWAMP RUN · built 1969 | 4,644 vehicles a day |
| BRYANTOWN ROAD over MILL DAM RUN · built 1933 | 1,497 vehicles a day |
| CELESTIAL LANE over SWANSON CREEK · built 1992 | 1,228 vehicles a day |
| TRINITY CHURCH RD over GILBERT SWAMP RUN · built 1927 | 656 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $17.8 million of work in Charles County in fiscal 2025, about $107 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 Charles 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 Charles County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Maryland: the state government and every county in Maryland.
Nearby counties: King George County, VA (16 mi) · Stafford County, VA (24 mi) · Alexandria city, VA (24 mi) · Prince George's County (26 mi) · Calvert County (26 mi) · Westmoreland County, VA (28 mi).