5,135 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.4% since 2020)
1,874 square miles of land · 3 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.
6 active community water systems list McHenry County in the area they serve, reporting 2,291 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| VELVA CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND2500964 | 1,084 served |
| TOWNER CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND2500946 | 479 served |
| DRAKE CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND2500266 | 275 served |
| GRANVILLE CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND2500415 | 241 served |
| UPHAM CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND2500956 | 130 served |
| KARLSRUHE CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND2500509 | 82 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 27 people were held in McHenry County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 920 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 38.
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 McHenry County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $8.1 million — $6.9 million to run schools, about $15,562 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.8 million local (mostly property tax), $3.9 million state, $876,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.1 million.
Spent $8.4 million — $6.1 million to run schools, about $17,982 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $4.6 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $1 million.
Spent $2.2 million — $1.8 million to run schools, about $25,247 per student, plus $115,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $872,000 local (mostly property tax), $895,000 state, $297,000 federal.
Spent $2 million — $1.7 million to run schools, about $24,183 per student, plus $48,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $575,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.1 million state, $695,000 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost McHenry County about $7.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
112 bridges in McHenry County: 23 in good condition, 55 fair, and 34 poor (30.4%). “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.
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over CUT BANK CREEK · built 1939 | 457 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over WILLOW CREEK · built 1964 | 125 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over BANK CREEK · built 1965 | 46 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD over SOURIS RIVER · built 1989 | 30 vehicles a day |
| 43RD ST NE over WINTERING RIVER · built 1938 | 30 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over CUT BANK CREEK · built 1940 | 25 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $6.3 million of work in McHenry County in fiscal 2025, about $1,181 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 North Dakota 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 McHenry 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 McHenry County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Dakota: the state government and every county in North Dakota.
Nearby counties: Pierce County (31 mi) · Bottineau County (40 mi) · Ward County (42 mi) · Sheridan County (47 mi) · Rolette County (52 mi) · McLean County (54 mi).