84,199 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.1% since 2020)
685 square miles of land · 123 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.
12 active community water systems list Payne County in the area they serve, reporting 86,790 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| STILLWATER UTILITIES AUTHORITY surface water · local government · OK1021220 | 53,000 served |
| OSU WATER PLANT surface water · state · OK1020910 | 13,000 served |
| CUSHING groundwater · local government · OK2006061 | 8,371 served |
| PAYNE CO RW CORP #3 buys surface water · local government · OK3006030 | 3,000 served |
| PERKINS groundwater · local government · OK2006012 | 2,572 served |
| 51 EAST WATER buys surface water · local government · OK3006003 | 2,500 served |
| PAYNE CO RWD #3 buys surface water · local government · OK2006011 | 1,400 served |
| YALE buys surface water · local government · OK3006039 | 1,227 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 235 people were held in Payne County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 394 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 213.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Payne County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $72.6 million — $68 million to run schools, about $11,065 per student, plus $3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $44.1 million local (mostly property tax), $29.4 million state, $7.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $45.4 million.
Spent $35.4 million — $24.2 million to run schools, about $14,254 per student, plus $10.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $31 million local (mostly property tax), $3.9 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $10 million.
Spent $16.6 million — $14.8 million to run schools, about $9,373 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7 million local (mostly property tax), $8.4 million state, $2.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.3 million.
Spent $6.4 million — $5.7 million to run schools, about $12,761 per student, plus $669,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.5 million local (mostly property tax), $2.7 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.5 million.
Spent $4.6 million — $4.1 million to run schools, about $11,693 per student, plus $481,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.8 million local (mostly property tax), $2 million state, $902,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.1 million.
Spent $4.4 million — $3.6 million to run schools, about $10,614 per student, plus $701,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2 million local (mostly property tax), $1.7 million state, $848,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.7 million.
Spent $1.5 million — $1.5 million to run schools, about $8,813 per student, plus $28,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $519,000 local (mostly property tax), $891,000 state, $226,000 federal. Long-term debt: $150,000.
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 Payne County about $50.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
384 bridges in Payne County: 93 in good condition, 251 fair, and 40 poor (10.4%). “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.
| E0615 (VIRGINIA ST over WEST BOOMER CREEK · built 1980 | 4,000 vehicles a day |
| FRANKLIN LANE over BOOMER CREEK · built 1976 | 2,800 vehicles a day |
| S.H. 108 over CIMARRON RIV& CO. RD UND · built 1974 | 1,800 vehicles a day |
| E0625 (12TH ST) over BOOMER CREEK · built 1996 | 1,500 vehicles a day |
| COYLE RD (N3240) over CREEK · built 1950 | 629 vehicles a day |
| SANGRE RD. over CREEK · built 1984 | 500 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $113.3 million of work in Payne County in fiscal 2025, about $1,387 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 Payne 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 Payne County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Oklahoma: the state government and every county in Oklahoma.
Nearby counties: Pawnee County (22 mi) · Noble County (26 mi) · Lincoln County (26 mi) · Logan County (29 mi) · Creek County (35 mi) · Oklahoma County (44 mi).