65,072 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.9% since 2020)
573 square miles of land · 114 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.
13 active community water systems list Isabella County in the area they serve, reporting 37,344 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MOUNT PLEASANT surface water · local government · MI0004530 | 21,688 served |
| UNION TOWNSHIP groundwater · local government · MI0006725 | 12,927 served |
| SHEPHERD, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · MI0006030 | 1,515 served |
| LAKE ISABELLA WATER DIST. #1 groundwater · local government · MI0003435 | 327 served |
| MAPLEVIEW ESTATES EAST groundwater · private · MI0040219 | 220 served |
| BROOMFIELD VALLEY groundwater · private · MI0040218 | 212 served |
| COUNTRY PLACE groundwater · private · MI0040220 | 115 served |
| OAKVIEW MOBILE ESTATES groundwater · private · MI0040222 | 102 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 138 people were held in Isabella County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2022), or 301 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2017 it was about 165.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Isabella County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $62.3 million — $52.2 million to run schools, about $15,449 per student, plus $7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $24.3 million local (mostly property tax), $32 million state, $5.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $39 million.
Spent $26.3 million — $22.9 million to run schools, about $12,837 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6 million local (mostly property tax), $19.5 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $27.6 million.
Spent $10.8 million — $8.4 million to run schools, about $12,887 per student, plus $1.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.6 million local (mostly property tax), $7.2 million state, $719,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.4 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 Isabella County about $22.4 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.
183 bridges in Isabella County: 85 in good condition, 72 fair, and 26 poor (14.2%). “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.
| US-127 NB over CHIPPEWA RIVER · built 1961 | 8,658 vehicles a day |
| US-127 SB over EAST RIVER RD · built 1961 | 8,625 vehicles a day |
| MISSION ROAD over LEWIS DRAIN · built 1930 | 6,140 vehicles a day |
| MISSION ROAD over SPRING CREEK · built 1935 | 5,200 vehicles a day |
| WEIDMAN ROAD over COLDWATER RIVER · built 1966 | 3,604 vehicles a day |
| US-127 BR NB over US-127 SB · built 1961 | 2,953 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $12.8 million of work in Isabella County in fiscal 2025, about $198 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 Isabella 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 Isabella County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Midland County (23 mi) · Clare County (24 mi) · Mecosta County (25 mi) · Gratiot County (27 mi) · Montcalm County (28 mi) · Gladwin County (33 mi).