36,693 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.8% since 2020)
260 square miles of land · 141 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.
8 active community water systems list Alexander County in the area they serve, reporting 37,795 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ENERGY UNITED WATER CORP buys surface water · private · NC0102015 | 21,148 served |
| ALEXANDER CO WTR DIST buys surface water · local government · NC0102020 | 13,064 served |
| TAYLORSVILLE, TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · NC0102010 | 3,042 served |
| HILLSBORO S/D groundwater · private · NC0102106 | 170 served |
| CEDAR WOOD ESTATES buys surface water · private · NC0102129 | 109 served |
| FIVE OAKS S/D groundwater · private · NC0102127 | 99 served |
| HERITAGE FARMS S/D buys surface water · private · NC0102104 | 84 served |
| FOREST ACRES WATER CORPORATION groundwater · private · NC2002001 | 79 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 97 people were held in Alexander County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 418 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 94.
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.
1 school district has its office in Alexander County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $61.8 million — $58.5 million to run schools, about $12,930 per student, plus $1.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.4 million local (mostly property tax), $38.2 million state, $11 million 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 Alexander County about $10.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
107 bridges in Alexander County: 47 in good condition, 48 fair, and 12 poor (11.2%). “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.
| SR1409 over MUDDY FORK CREEK · built 1974 | 2,200 vehicles a day |
| SR1110 over LOWER LITTLE RIVER · built 1968 | 2,100 vehicles a day |
| SR1150 over MIDDLE LITTLE RIVER · built 1963 | 1,700 vehicles a day |
| SR1110 over UT TO LOWER LITTLE RIVER · built 1951 | 1,300 vehicles a day |
| SR1002 over MIDDLE LITTLE RIVER · built 1983 | 950 vehicles a day |
| SR1419 over ROCKY FACE BRANCH · built 1972 | 650 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.2 million of work in Alexander 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.
General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-09. Early voting: 2026-10-15 to 2026-10-31. Mail ballot request deadline: 2026-10-20. Election Day: 2026-11-03.
Source: NC State Board of Elections: upcoming election · NC State Board of Elections: vote in person · NC State Board of Elections: voter ID
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Alexander 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 Alexander County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Catawba County (18 mi) · Iredell County (19 mi) · Caldwell County (19 mi) · Wilkes County (20 mi) · Lincoln County (30 mi) · Burke County (32 mi).