35,618 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.1% since 2020)
778 square miles of land · 46 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.
30 active community water systems list Barry County in the area they serve, reporting 22,687 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MONETT PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010537 | 9,789 served |
| CASSVILLE PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010144 | 3,290 served |
| SOUTHWEST RURAL WATER DISTRICT 1 groundwater · private · MO5021116 | 2,700 served |
| PURDY PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010667 | 1,100 served |
| SELIGMAN PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010730 | 890 served |
| EXETER PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010262 | 800 served |
| WHEATON PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010856 | 698 served |
| BUTTERFIELD PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010119 | 528 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 20 people were held in Barry County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 96 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 76.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Barry County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $47.1 million — $31.5 million to run schools, about $13,631 per student, plus $14 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.4 million local (mostly property tax), $18.9 million state, $10.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $25.8 million.
Spent $24.3 million — $20.3 million to run schools, about $10,655 per student, plus $3.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.7 million local (mostly property tax), $10.7 million state, $5.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $8.8 million.
Spent $13 million — $8.5 million to run schools, about $10,302 per student, plus $4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $5.7 million state, $2.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.1 million.
Spent $11.4 million — $7.7 million to run schools, about $12,152 per student, plus $3.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2 million local (mostly property tax), $5 million state, $2.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.2 million.
Spent $7.9 million — $4.8 million to run schools, about $11,109 per student, plus $3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.2 million local (mostly property tax), $3.2 million state, $2.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.1 million.
Spent $3.6 million — $3.4 million to run schools, about $10,994 per student, plus $71,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.1 million local (mostly property tax), $2.3 million state, $761,000 federal. Long-term debt: $400,000.
Spent $4.2 million — $3.5 million to run schools, about $24,201 per student, plus $226,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $901,000 state, $513,000 federal.
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 Barry County about $29.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
167 bridges in Barry County: 40 in good condition, 102 fair, and 25 poor (15.0%). “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.
| MO 112 W over DRY HOLLOW BR · built 1934 | 2,497 vehicles a day |
| DAIRY ST over KELLY CR · built 1930 | 1,910 vehicles a day |
| RT BB E over BR OF FLAT CR · built 1960 | 1,871 vehicles a day |
| MO 86 E over TABLE ROCK LK · built 1957 | 1,830 vehicles a day |
| MO 39 S over BRANTLEY BR · built 1933 | 1,805 vehicles a day |
| MO 39 S over FLAT CR · built 1938 | 1,679 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $17.2 million of work in Barry County in fiscal 2025, about $498 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 Missouri 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 Barry 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 Barry County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Stone County (21 mi) · Lawrence County (28 mi) · McDonald County (29 mi) · Carroll County, AR (30 mi) · Newton County (31 mi) · Benton County, AR (34 mi).