21,254 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.6% since 2020)
390 square miles of land · 55 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.
11 active community water systems list Washington County in the area they serve, reporting 17,218 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BLAIR, CITY OF surface water · local government · NE3117905 | 8,000 served |
| WASHINGTON CO RURAL WATER 1 buys surface water · local government · NE3120004 | 2,009 served |
| LAKELAND ESTATES WATER COMPANY buys surface water · private · NE3105514 | 1,552 served |
| ARLINGTON, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3117901 | 1,350 served |
| KENNARD, VILLAGE OF buys surface water · local government · NE3117906 | 1,350 served |
| WASHINGTON CO RURAL WATER 2 buys surface water · private · NE3121200 | 1,218 served |
| FORT CALHOUN, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · NE3117907 | 1,010 served |
| COUNTRY ESTATES MOBILE HOME PARK buys surface water · private · NE3117903 | 300 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 8 people were held in Washington County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 60 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 22.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Washington County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $29.5 million — $26.8 million to run schools, about $11,791 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $26.4 million local (mostly property tax), $4.4 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.9 million.
Spent $12.5 million — $10.4 million to run schools, about $12,659 per student, plus $882,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.5 million local (mostly property tax), $5.2 million state, $436,000 federal. Long-term debt: $10.6 million.
Spent $10.9 million — $10.4 million to run schools, about $15,096 per student, plus $286,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.6 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $595,000 federal. Long-term debt: $6.6 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Washington County about $14.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
149 bridges in Washington County: 112 in good condition, 33 fair, and 4 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.
| N91 over STREAM · built 1964 | 1,220 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD P30 over MOORES CREEK · built 1935 | 50 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD P29 over STREAM · built 1935 | 15 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD P19 over NEW YORK CREEK · built 1935 | 5 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $4.4 million of work in Washington County in fiscal 2025, about $213 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 Washington 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 Washington County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Douglas County (17 mi) · Dodge County (22 mi) · Burt County (23 mi) · Harrison County, IA (23 mi) · Sarpy County (30 mi) · Saunders County (30 mi).