20,614 people (2024 Census estimate, +6.1% since 2020)
704 square miles of land · 29 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.
25 active community water systems list Benton County in the area they serve, reporting 8,387 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WARSAW PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010835 | 2,402 served |
| COLE CAMP PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010180 | 1,150 served |
| LINCOLN PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010469 | 1,100 served |
| STERETT CREEK VILLAGE groundwater · private · MO3252288 | 505 served |
| MO AMERICAN WHITEBRANCH SUBD groundwater · private · MO3036113 | 450 served |
| WINEGARS TEAL BEND SUBD groundwater · private · MO3036121 | 400 served |
| SPRING BRANCH WATER groundwater · private · MO3031322 | 273 served |
| SYCAMORE VALLEY SUBD groundwater · private · MO3036127 | 245 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 28 people were held in Benton County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 257 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 7.
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 Benton County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $17.1 million — $14.2 million to run schools, about $10,759 per student, plus $2.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.1 million local (mostly property tax), $7 million state, $5.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $8.4 million.
Spent $8.4 million — $7.8 million to run schools, about $10,335 per student, plus $273,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.4 million local (mostly property tax), $4 million state, $2.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.7 million.
Spent $8.3 million — $5.8 million to run schools, about $11,363 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3.8 million state, $2.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $632,000.
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 $16.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
134 bridges in Benton County: 15 in good condition, 91 fair, and 28 poor (20.9%). “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.
| MO 7 S over TURKEY CR · built 1939 | 2,566 vehicles a day |
| RT C E over CLEAR CR · built 1932 | 2,175 vehicles a day |
| RT C E over CLEAR CR · built 1932 | 1,653 vehicles a day |
| RT E S over BARKER CR · built 1947 | 1,120 vehicles a day |
| RT JJ E over LAKE CR · built 1963 | 253 vehicles a day |
| RT AB E over BRUSHY CR · built 1962 | 223 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.4 million of work in Benton County in fiscal 2025, about $125 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 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 Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Morgan County (24 mi) · Hickory County (25 mi) · Henry County (28 mi) · Pettis County (29 mi) · St. Clair County (32 mi) · Camden County (34 mi).