43,791 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.8% since 2020)
682 square miles of land · 64 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.
21 active community water systems list Pettis County in the area they serve, reporting 27,392 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SEDALIA PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010728 | 21,725 served |
| LA MONTE PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010448 | 1,120 served |
| MO AMERICAN MAPLEWOOD SUBDIVISION groundwater · private · MO3036131 | 1,008 served |
| PETTIS/JOHNSON/SALINE PWSD 1 buys surface water · local government · MO3021332 | 1,000 served |
| GREEN RIDGE PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010332 | 595 served |
| MO AMERICAN SMITHTON groundwater · private · MO3010746 | 500 served |
| SOUTHGATE SUBDIVISION groundwater · private · MO3036179 | 216 served |
| HOUSTONIA PWS groundwater · local government · MO3010384 | 198 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 189 people were held in Pettis County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 707 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 150.
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 Pettis County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $56.9 million — $53.5 million to run schools, about $10,620 per student, plus $2.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $24 million local (mostly property tax), $33.2 million state, $8.7 million federal.
Spent $6.6 million — $6 million to run schools, about $10,978 per student, plus $474,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $3.1 million state, $1.1 million federal.
Spent $6.7 million — $4.3 million to run schools, about $11,592 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $2.7 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.3 million.
Spent $4.9 million — $4.4 million to run schools, about $13,921 per student, plus $351,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.1 million local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $622,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.7 million.
Spent $4.3 million — $4 million to run schools, about $13,160 per student, plus $88,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $2.3 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.9 million.
Spent $3.3 million — $2.6 million to run schools, about $22,575 per student, plus $300,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $663,000 state, $478,000 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 Pettis County about $22.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
244 bridges in Pettis County: 112 in good condition, 110 fair, and 22 poor (9.0%). “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 50 E over MUDDY CR · built 1972 | 8,284 vehicles a day |
| US 65 S over TURKEY CR · built 1964 | 4,743 vehicles a day |
| RT U S over FLAT CR · built 1963 | 2,186 vehicles a day |
| RT H S over SEWER BR · built 1927 | 517 vehicles a day |
| WASHINGTON ST over UP RR · built 1920 | 500 vehicles a day |
| MCVEY RD over SMALL CR · built 1920 | 400 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $11.2 million of work in Pettis County in fiscal 2025, about $261 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 Pettis 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 Pettis County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Cooper County (27 mi) · Johnson County (28 mi) · Saline County (29 mi) · Benton County (29 mi) · Morgan County (31 mi) · Henry County (36 mi).