39,686 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.0% since 2020)
391 square miles of land · 101 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.
22 active community water systems list Orleans County in the area they serve, reporting 564,293 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MCWA surface water · public/private · NY2701047 | 525,262 served |
| MEDINA VILLAGE buys surface water · local government · NY3600600 | 6,500 served |
| ALBION VILLAGE surface water · local government · NY3600596 | 6,000 served |
| MCWA KENDALL WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · NY3630094 | 3,000 served |
| CARLTON WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · NY3604569 | 2,800 served |
| ALBION TOWN buys surface water · local government · NY3623006 | 2,725 served |
| RIDGEWAY TOWN WD buys surface water · local government · NY3612221 | 2,600 served |
| CLARENDON TOWN WDS buys surface water · local government · NY3630023 | 2,482 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 38 people were held in Orleans County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 40.
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 Orleans County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $41.4 million — $36 million to run schools, about $20,212 per student, plus $4.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.4 million local (mostly property tax), $31.8 million state, $4.3 million federal.
Spent $40.9 million — $37.5 million to run schools, about $26,189 per student, plus $2.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.5 million local (mostly property tax), $30.5 million state, $4.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $26.3 million.
Spent $27.6 million — $24.6 million to run schools, about $24,960 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.1 million local (mostly property tax), $19.8 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $15.7 million.
Spent $18.2 million — $16.4 million to run schools, about $23,760 per student, plus $400,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.3 million local (mostly property tax), $14.8 million state, $2.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $18.2 million.
Spent $16.8 million — $14.8 million to run schools, about $24,529 per student, plus $670,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.8 million local (mostly property tax), $12.1 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $7 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 Orleans County about $6.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
138 bridges in Orleans County: 46 in good condition, 69 fair, and 23 poor (16.7%). “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.
| RTE 31 over JEDDO CREEK · built 1946 | 6,277 vehicles a day |
| RTE 98 over ERIE CANAL · built 1914 | 4,319 vehicles a day |
| RTE 18 over OAK ORCHARD CREEK · built 1936 | 1,418 vehicles a day |
| RTE 18 over MARSH CREEK EAST · built 1932 | 1,337 vehicles a day |
| BROWN STREET over Erie Canal Heritage Trai · built 1912 | 1,219 vehicles a day |
| RTE 279 over BEARDSLEY CREEK · built 1929 | 815 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $27.8 million of work in Orleans County in fiscal 2025, about $690 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 Orleans 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 Orleans County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New York: the state government and every county in New York.
Nearby counties: Genesee County (23 mi) · Monroe County (26 mi) · Niagara County (31 mi) · Wyoming County (44 mi) · Livingston County (47 mi) · Erie County (50 mi).