40,763 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.0% since 2020)
2,078 square miles of land · 20 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.
13 active community water systems list Williams County in the area they serve, reporting 37,463 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WILLISTON CITY OF surface water · local government · ND5301012 | 26,426 served |
| NORTHWEST RURAL WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · private · ND5301079 | 5,102 served |
| TIOGA CITY OF buys surface water · local government · ND5300936 | 2,202 served |
| R & T WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · ND5301152 | 1,003 served |
| RAY CITY OF buys surface water · local government · ND5300809 | 950 served |
| TRENTON WATER USERS ASSOC buys surface water · private · ND5300948 | 840 served |
| INSPIRE COMMUNITIES-SPRINGBROOK buys surface water · private · ND5301063 | 300 served |
| GRENORA CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND5300425 | 244 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 76 people were held in Williams County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 309 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 116.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Williams County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $76.7 million — $69 million to run schools, about $13,026 per student, plus $3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $41.3 million local (mostly property tax), $39.1 million state, $6.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $31.4 million.
Spent $14.2 million — $9.5 million to run schools, about $18,145 per student, plus $3.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.1 million local (mostly property tax), $245,000 state, $3.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.1 million.
Spent $8.2 million — $6.8 million to run schools, about $15,960 per student, plus $884,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.2 million local (mostly property tax), $1.7 million state, $808,000 federal. Long-term debt: $11.4 million.
Spent $6.1 million — $5.5 million to run schools, about $17,037 per student, plus $15,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $3 million state, $721,000 federal.
Spent $5.8 million — $4.5 million to run schools, about $27,152 per student, plus $522,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.4 million local (mostly property tax), $1.3 million state, $430,000 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 Williams County about $24.9 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.
99 bridges in Williams County: 37 in good condition, 39 fair, and 23 poor (23.2%). “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.
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over LITTLE MUDDY RIVER · built 1954 | 3,495 vehicles a day |
| US HIGHWAY 85 over LITTLE MUDDY RIVER · built 2016 | 3,075 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over COTTONWOOD CREEK · built 1963 | 205 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over WILLOW CREEK · built 1955 | 50 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over PAINTED WOODS CREEK · built 1959 | 50 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over BLACKTAIL CREEK · built 1935 | 25 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $33 million of work in Williams County in fiscal 2025, about $806 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 Williams 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 Williams County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Dakota: the state government and every county in North Dakota.
Nearby counties: Divide County (32 mi) · McKenzie County (43 mi) · Mountrail County (53 mi) · Sheridan County, MT (53 mi) · Burke County (54 mi) · Richland County, MT (63 mi).