339,668 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.1% since 2020)
251 square miles of land · 1,354 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.
4 active community water systems list Howard County in the area they serve, reporting 286,756 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| HOWARD COUNTY D.P.W. DISTRIBUTION buys surface water · local government · MD0130002 | 286,158 served |
| LUTHERAN VILLAGE AT MILLER'S GRANT buys surface water · private · MD0130007 | 315 served |
| VILLAS AT CATTAIL CREEK groundwater · public/private · MD0130005 | 170 served |
| LIGHTHOUSE SENIOR LIVING ELLICOTT CITY buys surface water · private · MD0130006 | 113 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 225 people were held in Howard County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 103 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 Howard County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $1.2 billion — $1.1 billion to run schools, about $19,256 per student, plus $80.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $808.2 million local (mostly property tax), $417.3 million state, $58.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $561.2 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 Howard County about $52 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.
312 bridges in Howard County: 103 in good condition, 193 fair, and 16 poor (5.1%). “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.
| TAMAR DRIVE over UNNAMED STREAM · built 1970 | 10,941 vehicles a day |
| BROKEN LAND PARKWA over TRIB TO LITTLE PATUXENT · built 1972 | 10,830 vehicles a day |
| COLUMBIA ROAD over PLUMTREE BRANCH · built 1987 | 8,641 vehicles a day |
| BROWNS BRIDGE ROAD over PATUXENT RIVER · built 1953 | 5,772 vehicles a day |
| ILCHESTER ROAD over BONNIE BRANCH · built 1945 | 2,588 vehicles a day |
| SENECA DRIVE over BEAVER RUN BRANCH · built 1960 | 1,985 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $91.7 million of work in Howard County in fiscal 2025, about $276 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 Howard 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 Howard County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Maryland: the state government and every county in Maryland.
Nearby counties: Montgomery County (17 mi) · Baltimore city (17 mi) · Baltimore County (21 mi) · Carroll County (22 mi) · District of Columbia, DC (25 mi) · Anne Arundel County (26 mi).