41,814 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.6% since 2020)
695 square miles of land · 60 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.
12 active community water systems list Butler County in the area they serve, reporting 35,478 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| POPLAR BLUFF PWS surface water · local government · MO4010656 | 17,043 served |
| BUTLER COUNTY PWSD 1 groundwater · local government · MO4024070 | 12,000 served |
| BUTLER COUNTY PWSD 3 groundwater · local government · MO4024072 | 2,600 served |
| BUTLER COUNTY PWSD 2 groundwater · local government · MO4024071 | 1,500 served |
| NEELYVILLE PWS buys groundwater · local government · MO4010993 | 485 served |
| BUTLER COUNTY PWSD 104 buys groundwater · local government · MO4021370 | 475 served |
| QULIN PWS groundwater · local government · MO4010670 | 375 served |
| FISK PWS groundwater · local government · MO4010278 | 342 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 15 people were held in Butler County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 57 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 83.
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 Butler County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $66.8 million — $59.5 million to run schools, about $11,434 per student, plus $4.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $24.7 million local (mostly property tax), $31.9 million state, $20.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.5 million.
Spent $11.1 million — $9.8 million to run schools, about $11,792 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.9 million local (mostly property tax), $5.9 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $5,000.
Spent $7.3 million — $7.1 million to run schools, about $11,188 per student, plus $133,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.7 million local (mostly property tax), $4.1 million state, $1.4 million 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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Butler County about $45.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
229 bridges in Butler County: 117 in good condition, 95 fair, and 17 poor (7.4%). “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.
| US 67 S over BLACK RVR · built 1976 | 4,562 vehicles a day |
| BU 67 N over PIKE CR · built 1960 | 3,065 vehicles a day |
| MO 158 E over CRAVEN DRAIN DTCH · built 1937 | 1,390 vehicles a day |
| RT AA S over DRAIN DTCH NO 1 · built 1948 | 1,119 vehicles a day |
| RT AA S over DRAIN DTCH NO 10 · built 1948 | 1,119 vehicles a day |
| RT U E over ST FRANCIS RVR · built 1970 | 488 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $14.3 million of work in Butler County in fiscal 2025, about $340 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 Butler 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 Butler County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Clay County, AR (24 mi) · Ripley County (26 mi) · Stoddard County (27 mi) · Wayne County (27 mi) · Carter County (34 mi) · Greene County, AR (42 mi).