41,881 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.3% since 2020)
408 square miles of land · 103 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.
8 active community water systems list Benton County in the area they serve, reporting 19,523 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| Sauk Rapids groundwater · local government · MN1050004 | 13,835 served |
| Foley groundwater · local government · MN1050001 | 2,711 served |
| Rice groundwater · local government · MN1050002 | 2,187 served |
| Rockwood Estates groundwater · private · MN1050003 | 400 served |
| Benton Utilities LLC groundwater · private · MN1050009 | 120 served |
| The Cove Utility Association groundwater · private · MN1050010 | 99 served |
| Fischers Garden Mobile Home Park groundwater · private · MN1050005 | 91 served |
| Lake Andrew Development groundwater · private · MN1050011 | 80 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 35 people were held in Benton County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 131 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 67.
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 Benton County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $73.3 million — $59.2 million to run schools, about $13,374 per student, plus $9.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.9 million local (mostly property tax), $48.3 million state, $4.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $59.8 million.
Spent $27.9 million — $24.9 million to run schools, about $12,910 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.1 million local (mostly property tax), $20.3 million state, $2.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $12.3 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 Benton County about $18.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
118 bridges in Benton County: 64 in good condition, 43 fair, and 11 poor (9.3%). “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 4 over ELK RIVER · built 1973 | 1,550 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 12 over LITTLE ROCK CREEK · built 1967 | 1,100 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 6 over ST FRANCIS RIVER · built 1967 | 560 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 22 over W BR RUM RIVER · built 1966 | 540 vehicles a day |
| CR 51 over ST FRANCIS RIVER · built 1973 | 510 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 12 over ELK RIVER · built 1965 | 380 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $14.1 million of work in Benton County in fiscal 2025, about $341 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 Benton 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 Benton County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Minnesota: the state government and every county in Minnesota.
Nearby counties: Sherburne County (20 mi) · Mille Lacs County (24 mi) · Morrison County (25 mi) · Stearns County (31 mi) · Isanti County (35 mi) · Wright County (36 mi).