83,574 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.1% since 2020)
408 square miles of land · 205 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.
7 active community water systems list Buchanan County in the area they serve, reporting 92,133 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MO AMERICAN ST JOSEPH groundwater · private · MO1010714 | 89,171 served |
| BUCHANAN COUNTY PWSD 1 buys groundwater · local government · MO1024064 | 2,115 served |
| EASTON PWS buys groundwater · local government · MO1010234 | 250 served |
| DEKALB PWS buys groundwater · local government · MO1011181 | 250 served |
| HILLVIEW MHP LINDALE LLC buys groundwater · private · MO1041654 | 222 served |
| TRI LEVEL MHP LINDALE LLC buys groundwater · private · MO1041653 | 100 served |
| GREAT NORTHWEST WHOLESALE WATER COMMISS buys groundwater · local government · MO1071603 | 25 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 176 people were held in Buchanan County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 328 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 190.
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 Buchanan County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $157 million — $128.5 million to run schools, about $12,159 per student, plus $25.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $67.4 million local (mostly property tax), $65.8 million state, $28.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $26 million.
Spent $16 million — $9.2 million to run schools, about $10,674 per student, plus $6.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.3 million local (mostly property tax), $4.8 million state, $811,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.3 million.
Spent $4.2 million — $3.9 million to run schools, about $13,283 per student, plus $175,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.8 million local (mostly property tax), $2.7 million state, $541,000 federal. Long-term debt: $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 Buchanan County about $35.1 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.
246 bridges in Buchanan County: 78 in good condition, 149 fair, and 19 poor (7.7%). “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.
| US 36 E over LP 29 · built 1961 | 20,009 vehicles a day |
| US 36 E over IS 229 CST 6TH ST IS · built 1951 | 16,400 vehicles a day |
| RT AC S over US 36 · built 1973 | 10,927 vehicles a day |
| IS 229 S over CST MCARTHUR DR CST MON · built 1976 | 10,163 vehicles a day |
| IS 229 N over IS 229 CST 4TH ST CS · built 1976 | 8,403 vehicles a day |
| GENE FIELD RD E over IS 29 · built 1962 | 7,186 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $34 million of work in Buchanan County in fiscal 2025, about $401 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 Buchanan 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 Buchanan County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Platte County (20 mi) · Doniphan County, KS (20 mi) · Clinton County (22 mi) · Andrew County (23 mi) · DeKalb County (27 mi) · Atchison County, KS (28 mi).