152,703 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.1% since 2020)
568 square miles of land · 269 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.
41 active community water systems list Berrien County in the area they serve, reporting 103,866 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN REGIONAL SANITARY SEW buys surface water · local government · MI0003726 | 26,780 served |
| NILES groundwater · local government · MI0004740 | 14,215 served |
| BENTON HARBOR surface water · local government · MI0000600 | 9,103 served |
| ST JOSEPH surface water · local government · MI0006310 | 7,930 served |
| BENTON CHARTER TOWNSHIP surface water · local government · MI0000605 | 6,768 served |
| BUCHANAN groundwater · local government · MI0000960 | 4,871 served |
| LAKE CHARTER TOWNSHIP surface water · local government · MI0003741 | 4,177 served |
| ANDREWS UNIVERSITY buys groundwater · private · MI0000210 | 3,000 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 345 people were held in Berrien County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2022), or 368 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2017 it was about 369.
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.
15 school districts have their office in Berrien County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $78.7 million — $63.2 million to run schools, about $14,519 per student, plus $10.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $25.8 million local (mostly property tax), $52.2 million state, $4.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $28.7 million.
Spent $49.6 million — $43.9 million to run schools, about $13,291 per student, plus $4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.3 million local (mostly property tax), $34.3 million state, $9 million federal.
Spent $46.9 million — $38 million to run schools, about $12,812 per student, plus $7.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.1 million local (mostly property tax), $27.9 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $36 million.
Spent $40.7 million — $37.2 million to run schools, about $13,829 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.5 million local (mostly property tax), $27.8 million state, $2.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $27.7 million.
Spent $21.6 million — $20.8 million to run schools, about $13,299 per student, plus $310,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.3 million local (mostly property tax), $15.5 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.2 million.
Spent $23 million — $20.5 million to run schools, about $14,138 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.7 million local (mostly property tax), $15.9 million state, $2.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $545,000.
Spent $31.3 million — $29.5 million to run schools, about $20,390 per student, plus $260,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.3 million local (mostly property tax), $11.1 million state, $25.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.7 million.
Spent $19.5 million — $17.5 million to run schools, about $13,432 per student, plus $1.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.8 million local (mostly property tax), $12.9 million state, $2.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $28.5 million.
And 7 more.
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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Berrien County about $45.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
270 bridges in Berrien County: 72 in good condition, 181 fair, and 17 poor (6.3%). “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.
| I-94 WB over M-140 · built 1960 | 15,032 vehicles a day |
| COLOMA ROAD over PAW PAW RIVER · built 1966 | 4,366 vehicles a day |
| ROOSEVELT ROAD over HICKORY CREEK · built 1970 | 2,045 vehicles a day |
| HOLLYWOOD ROAD over BIG FEATHER DRAIN · built 1921 | 1,555 vehicles a day |
| HINCHMAN ROAD over HICKORY DRAIN · built 1956 | 1,521 vehicles a day |
| GLENDORA ROAD over E BR GALIEN RIVER · built 1941 | 1,051 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $147.5 million of work in Berrien County in fiscal 2025, about $956 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 Michigan 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 Berrien 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 Berrien County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: LaPorte County, IN (17 mi) · Porter County, IN (26 mi) · St. Joseph County, IN (26 mi) · Starke County, IN (35 mi) · Cass County (39 mi) · Lake County, IN (39 mi).