76,129 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.7% since 2020)
608 square miles of land · 125 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.
27 active community water systems list Van Buren County in the area they serve, reporting 28,306 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SOUTH HAVEN AREA WATER & SEWER AUTHORITY surface water · local government · MI0006101 | 8,914 served |
| PAW PAW groundwater · local government · MI0005210 | 3,362 served |
| HARTFORD groundwater · local government · MI0003070 | 2,688 served |
| MATTAWAN groundwater · local government · MI0004177 | 2,550 served |
| BANGOR groundwater · local government · MI0000380 | 2,000 served |
| LAWTON groundwater · local government · MI0003830 | 1,900 served |
| DECATUR groundwater · local government · MI0001750 | 1,838 served |
| COVERT TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0001661 | 1,805 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 79 people were held in Van Buren County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 169 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 169.
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.
12 school districts have their office in Van Buren County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $52.6 million — $47.9 million to run schools, about $13,267 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.9 million local (mostly property tax), $40.6 million state, $2.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $90 million.
Spent $35.8 million — $31.2 million to run schools, about $14,233 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10 million local (mostly property tax), $23.5 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $40.4 million.
Spent $37.1 million — $26.7 million to run schools, about $14,855 per student, plus $8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17 million local (mostly property tax), $11.1 million state, $4 million federal. Long-term debt: $46.5 million.
Spent $20.4 million — $17.2 million to run schools, about $12,631 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.7 million local (mostly property tax), $15.4 million state, $5 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.1 million.
Spent $16.2 million — $15.9 million to run schools, about $14,544 per student, plus $3,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.8 million local (mostly property tax), $11.8 million state, $4 million federal. Long-term debt: $16.2 million.
Spent $14.8 million — $13.6 million to run schools, about $12,926 per student, plus $717,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.6 million local (mostly property tax), $11.5 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.5 million.
Spent $19.2 million — $17.2 million to run schools, about $17,270 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $10.9 million state, $5.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $10 million.
Spent $12.3 million — $10.7 million to run schools, about $13,648 per student, plus $284,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.9 million local (mostly property tax), $8.4 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $27 million.
And 4 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Van Buren County about $20.4 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.
130 bridges in Van Buren County: 37 in good condition, 82 fair, and 11 poor (8.5%). “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.
| M-40 over I-94 · built 1960 | 8,601 vehicles a day |
| MAIN ST OVERPASS over AMTRAK RAILROAD · built 1980 | 5,023 vehicles a day |
| PINERY ROAD over PAW PAW RIVER · built 1964 | 1,030 vehicles a day |
| HAMILTON ROAD over BLACK RIVER · built 1974 | 800 vehicles a day |
| 40TH STREET over PAW PAW RIVER · built 1970 | 780 vehicles a day |
| 8TH AVE over S BR BLACK RIVER · built 1967 | 705 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $58.3 million of work in Van Buren County in fiscal 2025, about $771 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 Van Buren 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 Van Buren County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Allegan County (10 mi) · Cass County (30 mi) · Kalamazoo County (40 mi) · Berrien County (41 mi) · St. Joseph County, IN (46 mi) · St. Joseph County (47 mi).