28,266 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.6% since 2020)
989 square miles of land · 29 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 Custer County in the area they serve, reporting 23,986 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WEATHERFORD groundwater · local government · OK2002002 | 10,833 served |
| CLINTON surface water · local government · OK1010828 | 8,883 served |
| THOMAS groundwater · private · OK2002001 | 1,238 served |
| CUSTER COUNTY RWD #3 groundwater · local government · OK2002040 | 960 served |
| ARAPAHO buys surface water · local government · OK3002004 | 748 served |
| FRONTIER DEVELOPMENT AUTH buys surface water · private · OK3002011 | 437 served |
| CUSTER CITY PWS groundwater · local government · OK2002009 | 393 served |
| BUTLER buys surface water · local government · OK3002001 | 345 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 106 people were held in Custer County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 582 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 107.
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.
4 school districts have their office in Custer County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $35.4 million — $23.1 million to run schools, about $9,674 per student, plus $12.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.8 million local (mostly property tax), $11.7 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.3 million.
Spent $30.6 million — $25.5 million to run schools, about $12,263 per student, plus $4.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.3 million local (mostly property tax), $14.6 million state, $7.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.6 million.
Spent $7.7 million — $5.7 million to run schools, about $12,049 per student, plus $2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.7 million local (mostly property tax), $3.2 million state, $747,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.3 million.
Spent $7.7 million — $7.4 million to run schools, about $15,959 per student, plus $215,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.9 million local (mostly property tax), $1.5 million state, $584,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.7 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Custer County about $18.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
387 bridges in Custer County: 288 in good condition, 95 fair, and 4 poor (1.0%). “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.
| FAU 2843 (CUSTER S over LITTLE DEEP CREEK · built 1962 | 900 vehicles a day |
| FAS 2022 over WASHITA RIVER · built 1982 | 400 vehicles a day |
| 2046C over CREEK · built 1982 | 150 vehicles a day |
| N2280 over CREEK · built 1920 | 24 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $84.2 million of work in Custer County in fiscal 2025, about $2,952 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 Oklahoma 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 Custer 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 Custer County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Oklahoma: the state government and every county in Oklahoma.
Nearby counties: Dewey County (23 mi) · Washita County (25 mi) · Blaine County (36 mi) · Roger Mills County (42 mi) · Beckham County (47 mi) · Caddo County (48 mi).