6,572 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.3% since 2020)
569 square miles of land · 12 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.
5 active community water systems list Howard County in the area they serve, reporting 3,234 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ST PAUL, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3109306 | 2,416 served |
| DANNEBROG, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3109303 | 309 served |
| ELBA, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3109304 | 196 served |
| BOELUS, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3109301 | 189 served |
| FARWELL, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3109302 | 124 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.
No county jail figure in the national data for Howard County — not gathered, never hidden. Some counties share a regional jail or have none.
3 school districts have their office in Howard County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $10.3 million — $9.8 million to run schools, about $13,881 per student, plus $348,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.9 million local (mostly property tax), $3.2 million state, $769,000 federal. Long-term debt: $127,000.
Spent $8.9 million — $8.1 million to run schools, about $16,792 per student, plus $706,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $612,000 federal.
Spent $3.2 million — $3.1 million to run schools, about $25,279 per student, plus $25,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $272,000 federal. Long-term debt: $22,000.
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 Howard County about $11.4 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.
161 bridges in Howard County: 46 in good condition, 104 fair, and 11 poor (6.8%). “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.
| LIBERTY RD over STREAM · built 1935 | 225 vehicles a day |
| 11TH AVE/COLL 7568 over OAK CREEK · built 1981 | 160 vehicles a day |
| LIBERTY RD/COL7563 over TURKEY CREEK · built 1974 | 75 vehicles a day |
| VALLEY RD over TURKEY CREEK · built 1971 | 60 vehicles a day |
| SALEM RD over OAK CREEK · built 1935 | 40 vehicles a day |
| 9TH AVE over FARWELL SOUTH CANAL · built 1963 | 30 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $14.2 million of work in Howard County in fiscal 2025, about $2,192 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 Howard 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 Howard County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Sherman County (24 mi) · Hall County (24 mi) · Greeley County (24 mi) · Merrick County (25 mi) · Nance County (30 mi) · Valley County (34 mi).