66,250 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.0% since 2020)
571 square miles of land · 116 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.
18 active community water systems list Ionia County in the area they serve, reporting 28,109 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| IONIA groundwater · local government · MI0003370 | 11,708 served |
| BELDING groundwater · local government · MI0000560 | 5,769 served |
| PORTLAND groundwater · local government · MI0005530 | 3,883 served |
| LAKE ODESSA groundwater · local government · MI0003730 | 2,018 served |
| SARANAC groundwater · local government · MI0005930 | 1,343 served |
| LYONS groundwater · local government · MI0003967 | 789 served |
| MUIR groundwater · local government · MI0004550 | 604 served |
| PEWAMO groundwater · local government · MI0005310 | 476 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 77 people were held in Ionia County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 169 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 106.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Ionia County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $42.5 million — $34.9 million to run schools, about $12,318 per student, plus $5.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.5 million local (mostly property tax), $31.8 million state, $5 million federal. Long-term debt: $26.5 million.
Spent $33.6 million — $26.6 million to run schools, about $13,069 per student, plus $3.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.5 million local (mostly property tax), $23.4 million state, $2.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $36.9 million.
Spent $32.2 million — $25.3 million to run schools, about $15,200 per student, plus $2.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.6 million local (mostly property tax), $18.9 million state, $1.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $83.5 million.
Spent $12.8 million — $11.2 million to run schools, about $13,196 per student, plus $308,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $9.2 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.6 million.
Spent $267,000 — $241,000 to run schools, about $17,214 per student. Money in: $167,000 local (mostly property tax), $83,000 state, $171,000 federal.
Spent $179,000 — $156,000 to run schools, about $17,333 per student, plus $6,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $113,000 local (mostly property tax), $25,000 state, $69,000 federal.
Spent $213,000 — $191,000 to run schools, about $21,222 per student. Money in: $72,000 local (mostly property tax), $142,000 state, $37,000 federal.
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 Ionia County about $19.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
118 bridges in Ionia County: 37 in good condition, 69 fair, and 12 poor (10.2%). “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-96 WB over PORTLAND RD · built 1958 | 19,963 vehicles a day |
| M-21 over PRAIRIE CREEK · built 1929 | 8,456 vehicles a day |
| M-21 over MAPLE RIVER · built 1929 | 2,533 vehicles a day |
| DIVINE HIGHWAY over LOOKINGGLASS RIVER · built 1979 | 2,494 vehicles a day |
| GRAND RIVER AVENUE over LIBHART CREEK · built 1936 | 1,093 vehicles a day |
| BORDEN RD over PRAIRIE CREEK · built 1927 | 462 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $21.1 million of work in Ionia County in fiscal 2025, about $316 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 Ionia 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 Ionia County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Clinton County (24 mi) · Kent County (25 mi) · Montcalm County (26 mi) · Eaton County (27 mi) · Barry County (28 mi) · Gratiot County (34 mi).