11,709 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.8% since 2020)
1,166 square miles of land · 10 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.
15 active community water systems list Iron County in the area they serve, reporting 11,293 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| IRON RIVER groundwater · local government · MI0003410 | 3,019 served |
| CRYSTAL FALLS buys groundwater · local government · MI0001700 | 1,922 served |
| CASPIAN groundwater · local government · MI0001210 | 997 served |
| CRYSTAL FALLS TOWNSHIP - LIND groundwater · local government · MI0003880 | 990 served |
| BATES TOWNSHIP groundwater · local government · MI0000440 | 921 served |
| STAMBAUGH TOWNSHIP-WEST BRULE groundwater · local government · MI0006090 | 580 served |
| IRON RIVER TOWNSHIP-BEECHWOOD groundwater · local government · MI0000550 | 440 served |
| GAASTRA groundwater · local government · MI0002510 | 376 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 19 people were held in Iron County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 288 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 42.
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.
2 school districts have their office in Iron County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $12.1 million — $11.8 million to run schools, about $13,892 per student, plus $312,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $7.2 million state, $2.7 million federal.
Spent $7.2 million — $6.8 million to run schools, about $14,167 per student, plus $373,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $2.9 million state, $620,000 federal. Long-term debt: $31,000.
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 Iron County about $13.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
54 bridges in Iron County: 16 in good condition, 26 fair, and 12 poor (22.2%). “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.
| W GENESEE(OLD US2) over IRON RIVER BURIED · built 1918 | 8,200 vehicles a day |
| US-2 over CHICAGOAN CREEK · built 1929 | 3,653 vehicles a day |
| M-69 over MICHIGAMME RIVER · built 1931 | 1,571 vehicles a day |
| US-141 over HEMLOCK RIVER · built 1971 | 1,046 vehicles a day |
| FH 16 over NO BR PAINT RIVER · built 1955 | 156 vehicles a day |
| FH 16 over SO BR PAINT RIVER · built 1955 | 156 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $3 million of work in Iron County in fiscal 2025, about $257 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 Iron 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 Iron County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Florence County, WI (22 mi) · Dickinson County (34 mi) · Forest County, WI (36 mi) · Baraga County (37 mi) · Vilas County, WI (47 mi) · Marquette County (57 mi).