10,150 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.1% since 2020)
464 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.
6 active community water systems list Howard County in the area they serve, reporting 8,282 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| FAYETTE PWS buys groundwater · local government · MO2010271 | 2,800 served |
| HOWARD COUNTY CONS PWSD 1 buys groundwater · local government · MO2024259 | 2,100 served |
| HOWARD COUNTY PWSD 2 buys groundwater · local government · MO2024261 | 1,165 served |
| GLASGOW PWS groundwater · local government · MO2010308 | 1,103 served |
| NEW FRANKLIN PWS buys groundwater · local government · MO2010566 | 1,089 served |
| HOWARD COUNTY REGIONAL WATER COMM groundwater · local government · MO2021598 | 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 16 people were held in Howard County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 252 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 16.
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 Howard County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $7.7 million — $6.4 million to run schools, about $9,698 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.1 million local (mostly property tax), $3.2 million state, $976,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.3 million.
Spent $5 million — $4.5 million to run schools, about $10,720 per student, plus $238,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.7 million state, $403,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.1 million.
Spent $4.7 million — $3.9 million to run schools, about $12,408 per student, plus $712,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.3 million local (mostly property tax), $1.9 million state, $434,000 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 Howard County about $6.8 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.
134 bridges in Howard County: 57 in good condition, 67 fair, and 10 poor (7.5%). “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 3 S over KSC RR · built 1941 | 1,775 vehicles a day |
| MO 5 S over BEAR CR · built 1930 | 1,186 vehicles a day |
| BU 240 E over KCS RR · built 1934 | 705 vehicles a day |
| RT H S over SALT FORK CR · built 1947 | 398 vehicles a day |
| RT A S over MONITEAU CR · built 1953 | 263 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY RD 415 over PRAIRIE FK · built 1910 | 100 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $4.8 million of work in Howard County in fiscal 2025, about $473 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 Howard 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 Howard County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Cooper County (21 mi) · Randolph County (23 mi) · Boone County (23 mi) · Saline County (27 mi) · Chariton County (30 mi) · Moniteau County (36 mi).