13,891 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.3% since 2020)
173 square miles of land · 80 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.
2 active community water systems list Chowan County in the area they serve, reporting 17,222 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CHOWAN CO WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · NC0421015 | 11,722 served |
| EDENTON, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0421010 | 5,500 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 35 people were held in Chowan County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 438 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 32.
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 Chowan County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $31 million — $28.8 million to run schools, about $15,039 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5 million local (mostly property tax), $20.5 million state, $5.4 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Chowan County about $9.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
39 bridges in Chowan County: 23 in good condition, 14 fair, and 2 poor (5.1%). “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.
| US17BUS over PEMBROKE CREEK · built 1951 | 3,600 vehicles a day |
| SR1224 over BR. ROCKYHOCK CREEK · built 1996 | 150 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $17.7 million of work in Chowan County in fiscal 2025, about $1,294 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 Chowan 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 Chowan County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Perquimans County (12 mi) · Washington County (20 mi) · Bertie County (21 mi) · Pasquotank County (21 mi) · Gates County (22 mi) · Hertford County (27 mi).