124,105 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.6% since 2020)
1,060 square miles of land · 117 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.
55 active community water systems list Chautauqua County in the area they serve, reporting 108,898 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| JAMESTOWN BPU groundwater · local government · NY0600366 | 46,712 served |
| DUNKIRK CITY surface water · local government · NY0600360 | 12,743 served |
| FREDONIA VILLAGE surface water · local government · NY0600364 | 9,585 served |
| CHAUTAUQUA UTILITY DISTRICT surface water · public/private · NY0600381 | 9,000 served |
| WESTFIELD VILLAGE AND TOWN surface water · local government · NY0615782 | 3,890 served |
| SILVER CREEK VILLAGE buys surface water · local government · NY0600375 | 3,100 served |
| NORTH CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · NY0630144 | 3,100 served |
| BROCTON PORTLAND WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · NY0630167 | 3,086 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 180 people were held in Chautauqua County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 195.
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.
18 school districts have their office in Chautauqua County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $105.6 million — $91.2 million to run schools, about $20,113 per student, plus $9.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $16.8 million local (mostly property tax), $82.9 million state, $19.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $35.4 million.
Spent $62.4 million — $52.4 million to run schools, about $26,023 per student, plus $5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.7 million local (mostly property tax), $41.1 million state, $8.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $27.3 million.
Spent $35.3 million — $34.4 million to run schools, about $23,058 per student, plus $437,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.4 million local (mostly property tax), $15.8 million state, $3.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.9 million.
Spent $30.5 million — $27 million to run schools, about $20,130 per student, plus $2.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.1 million local (mostly property tax), $17.8 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $27 million.
Spent $26 million — $23.7 million to run schools, about $20,668 per student, plus $766,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.6 million local (mostly property tax), $20.1 million state, $3 million federal. Long-term debt: $17 million.
Spent $28.5 million — $25.4 million to run schools, about $25,080 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.1 million local (mostly property tax), $21.4 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.8 million.
Spent $25.9 million — $23 million to run schools, about $27,897 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.6 million local (mostly property tax), $18.9 million state, $3.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.6 million.
Spent $22.4 million — $18.9 million to run schools, about $24,394 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.3 million local (mostly property tax), $16.3 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.2 million.
And 10 more.
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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Chautauqua County about $43.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
559 bridges in Chautauqua County: 238 in good condition, 269 fair, and 52 poor (9.3%). “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.
| RTE I86 over BALL CREEK CHAUTAUQUA L · built 1982 | 15,071 vehicles a day |
| RTE I90 over CSXT RR/AMTRAK NORFOLK · built 1955 | 9,423 vehicles a day |
| RTE I90 over CSXT RR/AMTRAK NORFOLK · built 1955 | 8,444 vehicles a day |
| RTE 60 over BR CASSADAGA CRK · built 1955 | 6,288 vehicles a day |
| RTE I86 over TOWN LNE RD · built 1976 | 5,877 vehicles a day |
| RTE I86 over CASSADAGA CREEK · built 1969 | 5,305 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $97.6 million of work in Chautauqua County in fiscal 2025, about $764 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 New York 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 Chautauqua 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 Chautauqua County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New York: the state government and every county in New York.
Nearby counties: Warren County, PA (33 mi) · Erie County, PA (37 mi) · Cattaraugus County (38 mi) · Erie County (45 mi) · McKean County, PA (54 mi) · Forest County, PA (55 mi).