16,335 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.0% since 2020)
1,821 square miles of land · 9 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.
6 active community water systems list Aitkin County in the area they serve, reporting 3,478 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| Aitkin groundwater · local government · MN1010001 | 2,165 served |
| Hill City groundwater · local government · MN1010011 | 633 served |
| McGregor groundwater · local government · MN1010016 | 394 served |
| Palisade groundwater · local government · MN1010013 | 166 served |
| Bavaria Woods groundwater · private · MN1010002 | 95 served |
| Why-Not Park groundwater · private · MN1010019 | 25 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 38 people were held in Aitkin County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 446 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 66.
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 Aitkin County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $17.2 million — $15.1 million to run schools, about $14,691 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $10.7 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.3 million.
Spent $15.3 million — $7.6 million to run schools, about $16,923 per student, plus $6.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.5 million local (mostly property tax), $6 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $15 million.
Spent $5.1 million — $4.2 million to run schools, about $16,340 per student, plus $438,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1 million local (mostly property tax), $3.3 million state, $713,000 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 Aitkin County about $15.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
96 bridges in Aitkin County: 50 in good condition, 38 fair, and 8 poor (8.3%). “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.
| CSAH 22 over WAKEFIELD BROOK · built 1960 | 730 vehicles a day |
| MN 18 over SNAKE RIVER · built 1955 | 629 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 2 over SNAKE RIVER · built 1958 | 418 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 29 over WILLOW RIVER · built 1979 | 137 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 5 over RICE RIVER · built 1969 | 131 vehicles a day |
| SPR 3 over SAVANNA RIVER · built 1977 | 10 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $13.2 million of work in Aitkin County in fiscal 2025, about $843 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 Minnesota 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 Aitkin 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 Aitkin County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Minnesota: the state government and every county in Minnesota.
Nearby counties: Crow Wing County (32 mi) · Carlton County (35 mi) · Kanabec County (46 mi) · Pine County (47 mi) · Mille Lacs County (48 mi) · Cass County (50 mi).