8,766 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.6% since 2020)
399 square miles of land · 22 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.
10 active community water systems list Hickory County in the area they serve, reporting 3,782 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PWSD 2 OF HICKORY CO groundwater · local government · MO5021292 | 1,450 served |
| HERMITAGE PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010361 | 621 served |
| WEAUBLEAU PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010843 | 418 served |
| WHEATLAND PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010855 | 371 served |
| VILLAGE OF PRESTON WATER DEPT groundwater · local government · MO5024250 | 225 served |
| CROSS TIMBERS PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010197 | 215 served |
| LAKE FOREST SUBDIVISION groundwater · private · MO5036203 | 200 served |
| POMME MHP LLC groundwater · private · MO5238302 | 100 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 9 people were held in Hickory County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 204 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 6.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Hickory County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $11.1 million — $7.7 million to run schools, about $10,644 per student, plus $2.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.9 million local (mostly property tax), $6 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.8 million.
Spent $4.6 million — $3.9 million to run schools, about $11,299 per student, plus $397,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.5 million local (mostly property tax), $2.2 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.4 million.
Spent $4.7 million — $4 million to run schools, about $12,532 per student, plus $520,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.4 million.
Spent $6.8 million — $4.2 million to run schools, about $15,621 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.1 million local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.3 million.
Spent $1.5 million — $1.3 million to run schools, about $14,667 per student, plus $63,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $469,000 local (mostly property tax), $736,000 state, $390,000 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 Hickory County about $5.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
57 bridges in Hickory County: 22 in good condition, 25 fair, and 10 poor (17.5%). “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 64 E over POMME DE TERRE LK · built 1960 | 1,990 vehicles a day |
| MO 83 S over HOGLES CR · built 1926 | 537 vehicles a day |
| MO 83 S over NAFZIGER BR · built 1926 | 537 vehicles a day |
| RT O S over WEAUBLEAU CR · built 1971 | 428 vehicles a day |
| RT P E over STARKES CR · built 1948 | 254 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY RD 273 over POMME DE TERRE RVR · built 1900 | 200 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.9 million of work in Hickory County in fiscal 2025, about $351 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 Hickory 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 Hickory County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Polk County (22 mi) · Dallas County (24 mi) · Benton County (25 mi) · St. Clair County (26 mi) · Camden County (31 mi) · Cedar County (32 mi).