8,306 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.0% since 2020)
1,108 square miles of land · 7 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.
12 active community water systems list Knox County in the area they serve, reporting 5,757 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CREIGHTON, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3110705 | 1,154 served |
| BLOOMFIELD, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3110708 | 1,025 served |
| CROFTON, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · NE3110704 | 754 served |
| WAUSA, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3110711 | 592 served |
| WEST KNOX RWD groundwater · local government · NE3120348 | 565 served |
| VERDIGRE, VILLAGE OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3110713 | 552 served |
| NIOBRARA, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3110709 | 365 served |
| WAU COL RWS - WEST SIDE buys groundwater · local government · NE3121370 | 326 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 7 people were held in Knox County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 150 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 4.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Knox County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $6.8 million — $6.4 million to run schools, about $17,961 per student, plus $67,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.5 million local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $564,000 federal. Long-term debt: $217,000.
Spent $5.8 million — $5.4 million to run schools, about $18,641 per student, plus $163,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.6 million local (mostly property tax), $871,000 state, $433,000 federal.
Spent $5.7 million — $5.1 million to run schools, about $18,819 per student, plus $413,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $910,000 state, $502,000 federal. Long-term debt: $294,000.
Spent $10.2 million — $9.4 million to run schools, about $39,251 per student, plus $419,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $233,000 local (mostly property tax), $4.7 million state, $6.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.8 million.
Spent $4.5 million — $4.1 million to run schools, about $18,944 per student, plus $154,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.6 million local (mostly property tax), $634,000 state, $333,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.2 million.
Spent $6.7 million — $5.6 million to run schools, about $26,061 per student, plus $798,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2 million local (mostly property tax), $2.4 million state, $4.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.2 million.
Spent $3.3 million — $3.2 million to run schools, about $21,517 per student, plus $27,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.1 million local (mostly property tax), $482,000 state, $300,000 federal. Long-term debt: $296,000.
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 Knox County about $9.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
329 bridges in Knox County: 193 in good condition, 127 fair, and 9 poor (2.7%). “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.
| IRR/N12 over BAZILE CREEK · built 1946 | 1,275 vehicles a day |
| N12 over NIOBRARA RIVER · built 1978 | 1,035 vehicles a day |
| N14 over MISSOURI RIVER · built 1996 | 830 vehicles a day |
| IRR/S54D SANTEE SP over LOST CREEK · built 1970 | 740 vehicles a day |
| N12 over PONCA CREEK · built 1961 | 545 vehicles a day |
| N12 over STREAM · built 1961 | 545 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $18 million of work in Knox County in fiscal 2025, about $2,146 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 Knox 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 Knox County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Bon Homme County, SD (24 mi) · Pierce County (29 mi) · Antelope County (32 mi) · Cedar County (32 mi) · Yankton County, SD (36 mi) · Holt County (47 mi).