306,235 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.1% since 2020)
564 square miles of land · 543 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.
26 active community water systems list Ottawa County in the area they serve, reporting 207,273 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| HOLLAND BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS surface water · local government · MI0003190 | 49,687 served |
| GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0002620 | 41,086 served |
| HOLLAND TOWNSHIP CONSOLIDATED buys surface water · local government · MI0003195 | 26,100 served |
| ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0000127 | 19,725 served |
| GRAND HAVEN TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0002760 | 15,051 served |
| GRAND HAVEN buys surface water · local government · MI0002750 | 10,412 served |
| SPRING LAKE TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0006235 | 9,393 served |
| ZEELAND BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS buys surface water · local government · MI0007270 | 8,328 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 292 people were held in Ottawa County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 149 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 335.
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.
9 school districts have their office in Ottawa County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $147.9 million — $96.2 million to run schools, about $14,135 per student, plus $40.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $41.1 million local (mostly property tax), $77.3 million state, $5.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $185.5 million.
Spent $137.7 million — $97.2 million to run schools, about $14,755 per student, plus $34.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $53.6 million local (mostly property tax), $65.2 million state, $9.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $157.4 million.
Spent $114 million — $91.3 million to run schools, about $15,185 per student, plus $14.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $45.4 million local (mostly property tax), $66.8 million state, $5.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $101.1 million.
Spent $92.7 million — $87.9 million to run schools, about $16,252 per student, plus $3.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $45.6 million local (mostly property tax), $51.8 million state, $7.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.9 million.
Spent $111.6 million — $78.3 million to run schools, about $15,071 per student, plus $25.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $30.1 million local (mostly property tax), $61.8 million state, $6.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $91.8 million.
Spent $64.7 million — $50.7 million to run schools, about $17,878 per student, plus $8.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $31.8 million local (mostly property tax), $29.2 million state, $5.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $72.1 million.
Spent $44.4 million — $37.4 million to run schools, about $14,195 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19.9 million local (mostly property tax), $28.3 million state, $3.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $119.5 million.
Spent $47.4 million — $37 million to run schools, about $14,473 per student, plus $7.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14 million local (mostly property tax), $30.9 million state, $4.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $65.4 million.
And 1 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 Ottawa County about $68.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
253 bridges in Ottawa County: 79 in good condition, 151 fair, and 23 poor (9.1%). “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.
| RILEY ST over PINE CREEK · built 1972 | 13,227 vehicles a day |
| 96TH AVENUE over PIGEON CREEK · built 1973 | 7,380 vehicles a day |
| RANDALL STREET over DEER CREEK · built 1920 | 6,976 vehicles a day |
| ADAMS ST over BLACK RIVER TRIBUTARY · built 1973 | 6,930 vehicles a day |
| ADAMS STREET over BLACK RIVER TRIBUTARY · built 1973 | 6,840 vehicles a day |
| BYRON ROAD over KAMPEN-STRUIK DRAIN · built 1980 | 5,810 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $40 million of work in Ottawa County in fiscal 2025, about $135 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 Ottawa 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 Ottawa County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Muskegon County (28 mi) · Kent County (34 mi) · Oceana County (40 mi) · Newaygo County (41 mi) · Allegan County (44 mi) · Van Buren County (54 mi).