24,554 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.0% since 2020)
1,014 square miles of land · 24 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.
10 active community water systems list Dawson County in the area they serve, reporting 19,155 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LEXINGTON, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3104708 | 10,348 served |
| COZAD, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3104701 | 3,915 served |
| GOTHENBURG, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3104702 | 3,578 served |
| OVERTON, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3104710 | 600 served |
| SUMNER, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3120220 | 220 served |
| HITCH N RAIL MOBILE HOME COURT groundwater · private · NE3120014 | 180 served |
| FARNAM, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3104703 | 170 served |
| LAKEVIEW ACRES LOT OWNERS groundwater · private · NE3120312 | 60 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 94 people were held in Dawson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 643 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 89.
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 Dawson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $50.1 million — $45.3 million to run schools, about $14,074 per student, plus $4.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.8 million local (mostly property tax), $27.9 million state, $9.9 million federal.
Spent $28.3 million — $14.3 million to run schools, about $15,054 per student, plus $12.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3.7 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $28.4 million.
Spent $12.8 million — $12.6 million to run schools, about $14,830 per student, plus $154,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.5 million local (mostly property tax), $2.3 million state, $896,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.6 million.
Spent $5.1 million — $4.8 million to run schools, about $17,249 per student, plus $144,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.8 million local (mostly property tax), $1.2 million state, $272,000 federal.
Spent $5 million — $4.6 million to run schools, about $20,581 per student, plus $201,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4 million local (mostly property tax), $833,000 state, $239,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.5 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Dawson County about $23.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
300 bridges in Dawson County: 203 in good condition, 86 fair, and 11 poor (3.7%). “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.
| CO RD 754/COL 7296 over CNPPID CANAL · built 1935 | 170 vehicles a day |
| CO RD 408/COL 7309 over NPPID CANAL · built 1976 | 70 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 209 over NPPID CANAL · built 1935 | 60 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 431 over SPRING CREEK · built 1985 | 40 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 442 over BUFFALO CREEK · built 1935 | 30 vehicles a day |
| ROAD 429 over FARMERS/MERCHANTS CANAL · built 1935 | 30 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $14.8 million of work in Dawson County in fiscal 2025, about $613 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 Nebraska 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 Dawson 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 Dawson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Gosper County (25 mi) · Phelps County (32 mi) · Custer County (37 mi) · Frontier County (39 mi) · Buffalo County (39 mi) · Furnas County (47 mi).