9,525 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.7% since 2020)
482 square miles of land · 20 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 Rock County in the area they serve, reporting 9,495 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| Luverne groundwater · local government · MN1670004 | 4,946 served |
| Rock County Rural Water System buys surface water · local government · MN1670007 | 2,919 served |
| Hills buys groundwater · local government · MN1670003 | 685 served |
| Beaver Creek buys surface water · local government · MN1670001 | 297 served |
| Magnolia buys surface water · local government · MN1670005 | 214 served |
| Hardwick buys groundwater · local government · MN1670002 | 198 served |
| Steen buys groundwater · local government · MN1670006 | 180 served |
| Kenneth buys groundwater · local government · MN1670008 | 56 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 9 people were held in Rock County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 153 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 15.
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 Rock County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $21.8 million — $16.9 million to run schools, about $14,525 per student, plus $3.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.7 million local (mostly property tax), $12.8 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $26 million.
Spent $6.2 million — $5 million to run schools, about $14,801 per student, plus $599,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.6 million local (mostly property tax), $4.4 million state, $363,000 federal. Long-term debt: $7.9 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Rock County about $6.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
266 bridges in Rock County: 217 in good condition, 44 fair, and 5 poor (1.9%). “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 6 over I 90 · built 1964 | 1,006 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 6 over SPRING BROOK · built 1957 | 920 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 3 over I 90 · built 1965 | 910 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 8 over MOUND CREEK · built 1960 | 454 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 19 over STREAM · built 1960 | 103 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $7.6 million of work in Rock County in fiscal 2025, about $780 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 Rock 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 Rock County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Minnesota: the state government and every county in Minnesota.
Nearby counties: Lyon County, IA (20 mi) · Pipestone County (24 mi) · Nobles County (25 mi) · Minnehaha County, SD (27 mi) · Moody County, SD (31 mi) · Murray County (35 mi).