299,317 people (2024 Census estimate, +9.7% since 2020)
661 square miles of land · 453 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.
28 active community water systems list Frederick County in the area they serve, reporting 182,823 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NEW DESIGN - FREDERICK COUNTY surface water · local government · MD0100030 | 74,911 served |
| CITY OF FREDERICK surface water · local government · MD0100015 | 54,000 served |
| TOWN OF WALKERSVILLE groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · MD0100025 | 8,440 served |
| FORT DETRICK surface water · federal · MD0100011 | 7,900 served |
| CITY OF BRUNSWICK surface water · local government · MD0100005 | 7,312 served |
| TOWN OF THURMONT groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · MD0100023 | 6,200 served |
| TOWN OF MIDDLETOWN groundwater · local government · MD0100018 | 5,132 served |
| TOWN OF EMMITSBURG surface water · local government · MD0100010 | 2,921 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 282 people were held in Frederick County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 147 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 301.
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 Frederick County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $902.2 million — $761.3 million to run schools, about $16,233 per student, plus $122.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $446.6 million local (mostly property tax), $433.8 million state, $53.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $294.9 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 Frederick County about $49.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
485 bridges in Frederick County: 196 in good condition, 275 fair, and 14 poor (2.9%). “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.
| BAUGHMANS LANE over ROCK CREEK · built 1970 | 20,388 vehicles a day |
| FREDERICK ROAD over HUNTING CREEK · built 1928 | 9,402 vehicles a day |
| SHOOKSTOWN ROAD over CARROLL CREEK · built 1911 | 6,750 vehicles a day |
| FAIRVIEW AVENUE over CARROLL CREEK · built 1963 | 2,674 vehicles a day |
| LYNN BURKE ROAD over CHURCH BRANCH · built 1965 | 2,175 vehicles a day |
| OPOSSUMTOWN PIKE over BIG TUSCARORA CREEK · built 1988 | 1,070 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $117.1 million of work in Frederick County in fiscal 2025, about $431 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 Frederick 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 Frederick County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Maryland: the state government and every county in Maryland.
Nearby counties: Carroll County (21 mi) · Washington County (24 mi) · Montgomery County (25 mi) · Jefferson County, WV (27 mi) · Adams County, PA (29 mi) · Howard County (29 mi).