19,787 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.6% since 2020)
826 square miles of land · 24 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 Vernon County in the area they serve, reporting 23,750 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| VERNON COUNTY CONS PWSD 1 groundwater · local government · MO5024618 | 9,615 served |
| NEVADA PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010562 | 8,198 served |
| BATES COUNTY PWSD 4 buys surface water · local government · MO1024033 | 2,348 served |
| VERNON COUNTY PWSD 2 groundwater · local government · MO5024617 | 1,800 served |
| VERNON COUNTY PWSD 7 buys surface water · local government · MO5024622 | 550 served |
| SHELDON PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010738 | 543 served |
| WALKER PWS groundwater · local government · MO5010828 | 283 served |
| SCHELL CITY PWS buys groundwater · local government · MO5010725 | 250 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 119 people were held in Vernon County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 1,006 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 152.
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.
4 school districts have their office in Vernon County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $39.9 million — $26.1 million to run schools, about $10,960 per student, plus $12.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.1 million local (mostly property tax), $13.8 million state, $6.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.5 million.
Spent $3.1 million — $2.9 million to run schools, about $14,342 per student, plus $218,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.2 million local (mostly property tax), $1.2 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $10,000.
Spent $2.8 million — $2.6 million to run schools, about $14,608 per student, plus $177,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $969,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.6 million state, $805,000 federal.
Spent $2.6 million — $2.5 million to run schools, about $14,511 per student, plus $56,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $894,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.2 million state, $681,000 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 Vernon County about $14.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
404 bridges in Vernon County: 147 in good condition, 242 fair, and 15 poor (3.7%). “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.
| IS 49 S over US 54 MNA RR · built 1969 | 9,382 vehicles a day |
| IS 49 S over DOUGLAS BR · built 1969 | 6,540 vehicles a day |
| IS 49 S over RT K · built 1969 | 4,685 vehicles a day |
| RT W S over MEDIGENER CR · built 1921 | 4,480 vehicles a day |
| US 54 E over DRYWOOD CR · built 1984 | 4,057 vehicles a day |
| RT BB S over BIRCH CR · built 1967 | 3,149 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $9.2 million of work in Vernon County in fiscal 2025, about $466 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 Vernon 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 Vernon County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Barton County (24 mi) · Bourbon County, KS (28 mi) · Cedar County (28 mi) · Bates County (28 mi) · St. Clair County (34 mi) · Crawford County, KS (37 mi).