124,853 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.1% since 2020)
495 square miles of land · 252 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.
47 active community water systems list Richland County in the area they serve, reporting 89,971 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MANSFIELD CITY surface water · local government · OH7002914 | 51,000 served |
| SHELBY CITY surface water · local government · OH7004511 | 9,453 served |
| ONTARIO CITY groundwater · local government · OH7003512 | 6,756 served |
| LEXINGTON VILLAGE groundwater · local government · OH7002212 | 4,825 served |
| MADISON WATER DISTRICT groundwater · local government · OH7006712 | 2,050 served |
| BELLVILLE VILLAGE groundwater · local government · OH7000012 | 1,918 served |
| PLYMOUTH VILLAGE buys surface water · local government · OH7004003 | 1,874 served |
| EASTVIEW COMMUNITY WATER ASSOCIATION groundwater · private · OH7000912 | 1,100 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 201 people were held in Richland County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 260 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 250.
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.
9 school districts have their office in Richland County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $71.8 million — $66.8 million to run schools, about $20,993 per student, plus $2.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.7 million local (mostly property tax), $31.5 million state, $14.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.2 million.
Spent $48.1 million — $43.6 million to run schools, about $15,954 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $16.2 million local (mostly property tax), $21.4 million state, $7 million federal. Long-term debt: $24.1 million.
Spent $44.4 million — $28.6 million to run schools, about $12,223 per student, plus $13.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $18.6 million local (mostly property tax), $11.4 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $51.3 million.
Spent $22.4 million — $20.8 million to run schools, about $10,769 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.7 million local (mostly property tax), $7.9 million state, $2.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $3 million.
Spent $43.9 million — $26.1 million to run schools, about $14,098 per student, plus $16.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.6 million local (mostly property tax), $12 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $49.1 million.
Spent $21.9 million — $20.3 million to run schools, about $13,009 per student, plus $394,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.8 million local (mostly property tax), $9.8 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.5 million.
Spent $23.3 million — $20.9 million to run schools, about $20,081 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.7 million local (mostly property tax), $14.2 million state, $718,000 federal. Long-term debt: $8 million.
Spent $17.2 million — $14.9 million to run schools, about $15,898 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.3 million local (mostly property tax), $8.2 million state, $2.3 million federal.
And 1 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Richland County about $22.3 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.
358 bridges in Richland County: 235 in good condition, 105 fair, and 18 poor (5.0%). “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.
| LUTHER PLACE over RITTERS RUN · built 1999 | 2,986 vehicles a day |
| STATE ST. over BLACK FORK RIVER · built 1955 | 1,889 vehicles a day |
| LEX-ONTARIO RD over CLEAR FORK RIVER · built 1968 | 1,481 vehicles a day |
| MARION AVE. RD. over CLEAR FORK MOHICAN RIVER · built 1947 | 1,199 vehicles a day |
| COVERT RD over UNNAMED STREAM · built 1920 | 797 vehicles a day |
| SPRINGMILL WEST over BLACK FORK MOHICAN RIVER · built 1967 | 477 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $27.6 million of work in Richland County in fiscal 2025, about $221 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 Richland 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 Richland County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Ohio: the state government and every county in Ohio.
Nearby counties: Ashland County (15 mi) · Crawford County (21 mi) · Morrow County (22 mi) · Huron County (26 mi) · Knox County (26 mi) · Wayne County (34 mi).