33,070 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.6% since 2020)
636 square miles of land · 52 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.
14 active community water systems list Polk County in the area they serve, reporting 15,180 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LIBERTY UTILITIES BOLIVAR groundwater · private · MO5010085 | 11,000 served |
| HUMANSVILLE PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010387 | 1,048 served |
| PLEASANT HOPE PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010650 | 614 served |
| BOLIVAR SOUTHTOWN UTILITIES COMPANY INC groundwater · private · MO5031408 | 573 served |
| FAIR PLAY PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010264 | 475 served |
| MORRISVILLE PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010545 | 400 served |
| SILO RIDGE groundwater · private · MO5031210 | 400 served |
| HALFWAY PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010339 | 151 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 45 people were held in Polk County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 228 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 37.
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 Polk County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $38.6 million — $31.5 million to run schools, about $11,350 per student, plus $5.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.5 million local (mostly property tax), $19.5 million state, $6.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.2 million.
Spent $10.4 million — $8.6 million to run schools, about $11,423 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.5 million local (mostly property tax), $5.4 million state, $3.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.7 million.
Spent $6.6 million — $5.7 million to run schools, about $10,083 per student, plus $542,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.7 million local (mostly property tax), $3.4 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $2 million.
Spent $5 million — $4.3 million to run schools, about $11,649 per student, plus $196,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.9 million state, $994,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.8 million.
Spent $5.2 million — $4.5 million to run schools, about $12,960 per student, plus $324,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $2.6 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.5 million.
Spent $3.8 million — $3.4 million to run schools, about $12,423 per student, plus $144,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.5 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $588,000 federal. Long-term debt: $660,000.
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 Polk County about $15.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
184 bridges in Polk County: 63 in good condition, 89 fair, and 32 poor (17.4%). “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 13 N over DRY SAC RVR · built 1970 | 10,782 vehicles a day |
| MO 13 N over BRUSH CR · built 1958 | 6,729 vehicles a day |
| RT H S over POMME DE TERRE RVR · built 1946 | 1,184 vehicles a day |
| RT H S over SCHULTZ CR · built 1941 | 1,085 vehicles a day |
| RT N E over SADDLER BR · built 1966 | 766 vehicles a day |
| RT P S over BR OF OZARK CR · built 1900 | 708 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $1.9 million of work in Polk County in fiscal 2025, about $60 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 Polk 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 Polk County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Dallas County (21 mi) · Hickory County (22 mi) · Greene County (25 mi) · Cedar County (26 mi) · Dade County (28 mi) · St. Clair County (36 mi).