166,424 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.1% since 2020)
654 square miles of land · 255 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.
18 active community water systems list Olmsted County in the area they serve, reporting 144,163 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| Rochester groundwater · local government · MN1550010 | 123,624 served |
| Stewartville groundwater · local government · MN1550026 | 6,850 served |
| Byron groundwater · local government · MN1550001 | 6,809 served |
| Eyota groundwater · local government · MN1550006 | 2,043 served |
| Oronoco groundwater · local government · MN1550036 | 2,040 served |
| Dover groundwater · local government · MN1550004 | 895 served |
| Oronoco Estates MHC groundwater · private · MN1550008 | 505 served |
| Chester Heights groundwater · private · MN1550020 | 300 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 110 people were held in Olmsted County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 106 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 151.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Olmsted County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $330.2 million — $258.9 million to run schools, about $14,804 per student, plus $43 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $90.5 million local (mostly property tax), $196 million state, $29 million federal. Long-term debt: $367.3 million.
Spent $58.3 million — $25.7 million to run schools, about $11,224 per student, plus $27.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.2 million local (mostly property tax), $22.4 million state, $909,000 federal. Long-term debt: $88.8 million.
Spent $36.4 million — $24.5 million to run schools, about $11,943 per student, plus $8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.1 million local (mostly property tax), $21.3 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $55.6 million.
Spent $17 million — $12.8 million to run schools, about $11,637 per student, plus $3.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.7 million local (mostly property tax), $11.3 million state, $734,000 federal. Long-term debt: $9.2 million.
Spent $15.5 million — $11.6 million to run schools, about $12,548 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.1 million local (mostly property tax), $9.5 million state, $859,000 federal. Long-term debt: $28.1 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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Olmsted County about $93.6 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.
367 bridges in Olmsted County: 235 in good condition, 127 fair, and 5 poor (1.4%). “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.
| MSAS 135 over ELTON HILLS RAVINE · built 1977 | 3,650 vehicles a day |
| MN 247 over SILVER SPRING CREEK · built 1938 | 3,100 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 3 over MID FK ZUMBRO RIVER · built 1959 | 3,000 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 7 over STREAM · built 1968 | 870 vehicles a day |
| SERVICE RD over South Fork Zumbro River · built 1895 | 75 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $302.2 million of work in Olmsted County in fiscal 2025, about $1,856 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 Olmsted 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 Olmsted County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Minnesota: the state government and every county in Minnesota.
Nearby counties: Wabasha County (22 mi) · Dodge County (23 mi) · Fillmore County (27 mi) · Mower County (29 mi) · Winona County (31 mi) · Goodhue County (32 mi).