38,183 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.1% since 2020)
383 square miles of land · 100 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.
7 active community water systems list Dare County in the area they serve, reporting 49,550 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| DARE COUNTY WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · NC0428030 | 28,732 served |
| KILL DEVIL HILLS, TOWN OF buys groundwater · local government · NC0428015 | 7,200 served |
| DARE CO-CAPE HATTERAS WATER groundwater · local government · NC0428025 | 5,486 served |
| NAGS HEAD, TOWN OF buys groundwater · local government · NC0428010 | 3,125 served |
| MANTEO TOWN OF buys groundwater · local government · NC0428020 | 2,638 served |
| DARE CO-RWS WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · NC0428035 | 2,100 served |
| DARE CO-STUMPY POINT WATER SYS groundwater · local government · NC6028002 | 269 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 69 people were held in Dare County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 298 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 98.
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 Dare County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $75.8 million — $72.5 million to run schools, about $13,996 per student, plus $1.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $26.8 million local (mostly property tax), $38.7 million state, $7.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $24.4 million.
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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Dare County about $80.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
40 bridges in Dare County: 18 in good condition, 18 fair, and 4 poor (10.0%). “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.
| NC12 over THE SLASH · built 1956 | 3,300 vehicles a day |
| US64 over CROATAN SOUND · built 1955 | 2,400 vehicles a day |
| SR1164 over CANAL · built 2002 | 520 vehicles a day |
| DRY RIDGE ROAD over WHIPPING CREEK · built 1965 | 5 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 Dare County in fiscal 2025, about $303 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 Dare 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 Dare County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Hyde County (26 mi) · Tyrrell County (29 mi) · Washington County (48 mi) · Pasquotank County (53 mi) · Perquimans County (53 mi) · Currituck County (54 mi).