39,692 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.5% since 2020)
255 square miles of land · 156 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.
10 active community water systems list Ottawa County in the area they serve, reporting 44,171 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| OTTAWA COUNTY REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT surface water · local government · OH6205011 | 20,428 served |
| PORT CLINTON CITY buys surface water · local government · OH6203211 | 6,500 served |
| PUT-IN-BAY VILLAGE surface water · local government · OH6203311 | 5,000 served |
| OAK HARBOR VILLAGE buys surface water · local government · OH6202603 | 4,400 served |
| GENOA VILLAGE buys surface water · local government · OH6201003 | 3,110 served |
| CARROLL WATER AND SEWER surface water · local government · OH6205111 | 2,288 served |
| ELMORE VILLAGE buys surface water · local government · OH6200712 | 1,421 served |
| MARBLEHEAD VILLAGE buys surface water · local government · OH6202411 | 865 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 73 people were held in Ottawa County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 315 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 86.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Ottawa County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $29.4 million — $25.5 million to run schools, about $17,095 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $22.9 million local (mostly property tax), $6 million state, $3.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $30.3 million.
Spent $30.8 million — $20.4 million to run schools, about $14,854 per student, plus $10.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.5 million local (mostly property tax), $8.8 million state, $2.1 million federal.
Spent $17.5 million — $15.2 million to run schools, about $11,623 per student, plus $872,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.7 million local (mostly property tax), $7.7 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.3 million.
Spent $13.6 million — $12.3 million to run schools, about $13,189 per student, plus $501,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.4 million local (mostly property tax), $5.5 million state, $1 million federal. Long-term debt: $14 million.
Spent $14.6 million — $12.1 million to run schools, about $21,471 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.1 million local (mostly property tax), $2.3 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $221,000.
Spent $3.1 million — $2.9 million to run schools, about $42,603 per student, plus $89,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.6 million local (mostly property tax), $454,000 state, $77,000 federal.
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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Ottawa County about $22.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
160 bridges in Ottawa County: 102 in good condition, 55 fair, and 3 poor (1.9%). “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.
| WASHINGTON STREET over PACKER CREEK · built 1958 | 1,000 vehicles a day |
| WEST NINETH STREET over PACKER CREEK · built 1958 | 436 vehicles a day |
| RIDER RD over BEEF CREEK · built 1961 | 351 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $16.7 million of work in Ottawa County in fiscal 2025, about $413 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 Ohio 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 Ottawa 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 Ottawa County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Ohio: the state government and every county in Ohio.
Nearby counties: Sandusky County (15 mi) · Erie County (24 mi) · Lucas County (25 mi) · Seneca County (30 mi) · Wood County (34 mi) · Huron County (35 mi).