25,536 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.9% since 2020)
1,782 square miles of land · 14 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.
4 active community water systems list Jefferson County in the area they serve, reporting 20,145 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| DESCHUTES VALLEY WATER DIST groundwater · local government · OR4100501 | 11,700 served |
| CROOKED RIVER RANCH WTR CO groundwater · private · OR4100862 | 4,220 served |
| MADRAS, CITY OF groundwater · local government · OR4100500 | 3,940 served |
| METOLIUS MEADOWS PROP OWNERS groundwater · private · OR4190192 | 285 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 55 people were held in Jefferson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 353 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 94.
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 Jefferson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $69.3 million — $54 million to run schools, about $19,104 per student, plus $12.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.8 million local (mostly property tax), $38.7 million state, $13.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $86.7 million.
Spent $12.8 million — $12.2 million to run schools, about $18,281 per student, plus $375,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.7 million local (mostly property tax), $7.7 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.4 million.
Spent $968,000 — $756,000 to run schools, about $34,364 per student, plus $212,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $384,000 local (mostly property tax), $247,000 state, $137,000 federal.
Spent $547,000 — $329,000 to run schools, about $65,800 per student, plus $182,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19,000 local (mostly property tax), $404,000 state, $46,000 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Jefferson County about $10.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
80 bridges in Jefferson County: 37 in good condition, 36 fair, and 7 poor (8.8%). “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.
| BEAR DR over IRRIGATION CANAL · built 1952 | 260 vehicles a day |
| CAMP SHERMAN ROAD over LAKE CREEK · built 1969 | 254 vehicles a day |
| EUREKA LANE over IRRIGATION CANAL · built 1952 | 235 vehicles a day |
| NORRIS LANE over IRRIGATION CANAL · built 1950 | 44 vehicles a day |
| ACCESS ROAD over JACK CREEK · built 1946 | 40 vehicles a day |
| USFS #14 over Metolius River · built 1961 | 20 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $27.2 million of work in Jefferson County in fiscal 2025, about $1,109 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 Oregon 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Oregon: the state government and every county in Oregon.
Nearby counties: Wasco County (36 mi) · Deschutes County (50 mi) · Crook County (52 mi) · Wheeler County (57 mi) · Sherman County (58 mi) · Clackamas County (61 mi).