17,122 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.9% since 2020)
565 square miles of land · 30 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 Cooper County in the area they serve, reporting 12,993 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BOONVILLE PWS surface water · local government · MO3010089 | 7,964 served |
| COOPER COUNTY CONSOLIDATED PWSD # 1 buys surface water · local government · MO3024170 | 2,451 served |
| PILOT GROVE PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010642 | 768 served |
| COOPER COUNTY PWSD 1 groundwater · local government · MO3024169 | 562 served |
| OTTERVILLE PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010614 | 450 served |
| BUNCETON PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010115 | 337 served |
| PRAIRIE HOME PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010660 | 280 served |
| BLACKWATER PWS buys groundwater · local government · MO3010075 | 181 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 34 people were held in Cooper County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 328 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 51.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Cooper County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $22.1 million — $19.2 million to run schools, about $12,152 per student, plus $1.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12 million local (mostly property tax), $8.8 million state, $3.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $22.5 million.
Spent $4.3 million — $3.6 million to run schools, about $15,264 per student, plus $594,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $1.5 million state, $419,000 federal. Long-term debt: $150,000.
Spent $3.3 million — $3.1 million to run schools, about $14,726 per student, plus $87,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $1.6 million state, $191,000 federal. Long-term debt: $199,000.
Spent $3.6 million — $2.1 million to run schools, about $14,648 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $921,000 state, $435,000 federal. Long-term debt: $350,000.
Spent $3 million — $2.7 million to run schools, about $29,826 per student, plus $253,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $707,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $439,000 federal.
Spent $1.9 million — $1.5 million to run schools, about $18,692 per student, plus $169,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $651,000 local (mostly property tax), $952,000 state, $412,000 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Cooper County about $11.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
193 bridges in Cooper County: 97 in good condition, 90 fair, and 6 poor (3.1%). “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.
| BILLINGSVILLE RD over BR OF PETITE SALIN · built 1965 | 750 vehicles a day |
| RT M S over IS 70 · built 1961 | 313 vehicles a day |
| DUNKLES DR S over IS 70 · built 1958 | 208 vehicles a day |
| WILDLIFE RD over LAMINE RVR · built 1900 | 50 vehicles a day |
| IMHOFF RD over LAMINE RVR · built 1907 | 25 vehicles a day |
| SHACKELFORD BRIDGE over LAMINE RVR · built 1913 | 20 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $13.8 million of work in Cooper County in fiscal 2025, about $808 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 Cooper 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 Cooper County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Moniteau County (19 mi) · Howard County (21 mi) · Pettis County (27 mi) · Boone County (29 mi) · Saline County (29 mi) · Morgan County (30 mi).