40,762 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.4% since 2020)
927 square miles of land · 44 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.
9 active community water systems list Howell County in the area they serve, reporting 23,515 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WEST PLAINS PWS groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · MO4010853 | 12,864 served |
| MOUNTAIN VIEW PWS groundwater · local government · MO4010551 | 2,791 served |
| WILLOW SPRINGS PWS groundwater · local government · MO4010862 | 2,250 served |
| HOWELL OREGON COUNTY PWSD 2 NORTH groundwater · local government · MO4024267 | 1,768 served |
| HOWELL COUNTY PWSD 3 groundwater · local government · MO4021164 | 1,500 served |
| HOWELL OREGON 2 WEST groundwater · local government · MO4021376 | 1,210 served |
| HOWELL COUNTY PWSD 1 groundwater · local government · MO4024264 | 850 served |
| HOWELL OREGON COUNTY PWSD 2 SOUTH groundwater · local government · MO4024266 | 182 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 3 people were held in Howell County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 13 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 55.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Howell County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $37 million — $29.4 million to run schools, about $10,913 per student, plus $6.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.7 million local (mostly property tax), $14.8 million state, $9.7 million federal.
Spent $15.9 million — $14.9 million to run schools, about $11,657 per student, plus $804,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $8.9 million state, $2.9 million federal.
Spent $7.1 million — $5.2 million to run schools, about $9,987 per student, plus $332,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.8 million local (mostly property tax), $4.5 million state, $1.3 million federal.
Spent $6.3 million — $3.9 million to run schools, about $10,562 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $3.4 million state, $1.7 million federal.
Spent $4.2 million — $3 million to run schools, about $12,775 per student, plus $200,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.2 million state, $483,000 federal.
Spent $4.7 million — $2.7 million to run schools, about $11,902 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $1.3 million federal.
Spent $3.8 million — $2.7 million to run schools, about $12,818 per student, plus $583,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $947,000 local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $728,000 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Howell County about $30.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
190 bridges in Howell County: 69 in good condition, 118 fair, and 3 poor (1.6%). “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 137 S over CST FIRST ST BNSF RR · built 1939 | 3,661 vehicles a day |
| RT JJ S over S FK SPRING RVR · built 1955 | 1,827 vehicles a day |
| MO 142 E over MYATT CR · built 1951 | 193 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $20.6 million of work in Howell County in fiscal 2025, about $519 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 Howell 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 Howell County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Fulton County, AR (27 mi) · Oregon County (28 mi) · Ozark County (33 mi) · Douglas County (37 mi) · Texas County (37 mi) · Shannon County (38 mi).