157,228 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.6% since 2020)
458 square miles of land · 343 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.
20 active community water systems list Washington County in the area they serve, reporting 111,038 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CITY OF HAGERSTOWN surface water · local government · MD0210010 | 92,200 served |
| BOONSBORO - KEEDYSVILLE surface water · local government · MD0210002 | 4,250 served |
| TOWN OF SMITHSBURG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · MD0210018 | 2,500 served |
| TOWN OF WILLIAMSPORT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · MD0210021 | 2,400 served |
| TOWN OF HANCOCK groundwater · local government · MD0210012 | 1,921 served |
| LAKESIDE VILLAGE buys surface water · private · MD0210215 | 1,575 served |
| TOWN OF SHARPSBURG surface water · local government · MD0210017 | 1,360 served |
| TOWN OF FUNKSTOWN DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM buys surface water · private · MD0210008 | 1,300 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 354 people were held in Washington County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 354 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 317.
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 Washington County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $431.2 million — $400 million to run schools, about $17,937 per student, plus $23.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $124.9 million local (mostly property tax), $237.3 million state, $69.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $51.7 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 Washington County about $26.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
300 bridges in Washington County: 85 in good condition, 202 fair, and 13 poor (4.3%). “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.
| IS 70 EB over US 11 · built 1965 | 62,680 vehicles a day |
| IS 70 WB over US 11 · built 1965 | 62,680 vehicles a day |
| IS 70 EB over MD 632 · built 1966 | 62,680 vehicles a day |
| IS 70 WB over MD 632 · built 1966 | 62,680 vehicles a day |
| IS 70 RAMP A over BEAVER CREEK · built 1968 | 37,200 vehicles a day |
| HALFWAY BOULEVARD over NORFOLK SOUTHERN RAILROA · built 1967 | 21,909 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $118.6 million of work in Washington County in fiscal 2025, about $766 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 Washington 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 Washington County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Maryland: the state government and every county in Maryland.
Nearby counties: Berkeley County, WV (16 mi) · Jefferson County, WV (21 mi) · Franklin County, PA (23 mi) · Morgan County, WV (24 mi) · Frederick County (24 mi) · Fulton County, PA (27 mi).