90,549 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.9% since 2020)
741 square miles of land · 122 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 Polk County in the area they serve, reporting 51,991 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| DALLAS, CITY OF surface water · local government · OR4100248 | 17,911 served |
| MONMOUTH, CITY OF groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · OR4100537 | 11,651 served |
| INDEPENDENCE WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · OR4100399 | 10,300 served |
| LUCKIAMUTE DOMESTIC WATER COOP buys surface water · private · OR4100538 | 2,738 served |
| PERRYDALE DOMESTIC WTR ASSN groundwater · private · OR4101149 | 2,655 served |
| GRAND RONDE COMMUNITY WTR ASSN groundwater · private · OR4100338 | 2,500 served |
| RICKREALL WATER ASSOCIATION groundwater · private · OR4100704 | 1,650 served |
| FALLS CITY, CITY OF surface water · local government · OR4100297 | 1,051 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 116 people were held in Polk County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 204 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 139.
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 Polk County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $56.1 million — $54.2 million to run schools, about $16,928 per student, plus $789,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.9 million local (mostly property tax), $35.9 million state, $7.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $56 million.
Spent $54.1 million — $48 million to run schools, about $15,830 per student, plus $4.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.4 million local (mostly property tax), $33.9 million state, $4.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $41 million.
Spent $12.4 million — $4.7 million to run schools, about $14,884 per student, plus $7.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.2 million local (mostly property tax), $9.4 million state, $0 federal. Long-term debt: $3 million.
Spent $6.1 million — $5.4 million to run schools, about $29,103 per student, plus $553,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $824,000 local (mostly property tax), $3.5 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $960,000.
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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Polk County about $37.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
162 bridges in Polk County: 37 in good condition, 113 fair, and 12 poor (7.4%). “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.
| OR 99W (Hwy 91) over North Fork Ash Creek · built 1954 | 14,149 vehicles a day |
| MONMOUTH CUT OFF over N FK ASH CREEK · built 1979 | 4,473 vehicles a day |
| OR 223 (Hwy 191) over Fern Creek · built 1953 | 3,545 vehicles a day |
| GODSEY ROAD over N FK ASH CREEK · built 1960 | 1,112 vehicles a day |
| OR 223 (Hwy 191) over McTimmonds Creek · built 1967 | 879 vehicles a day |
| WINSLOW WAY NW over SALEMTOWNE GOLF CART PAT · built 1967 | 857 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $47.2 million of work in Polk County in fiscal 2025, about $540 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 Polk 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 Polk County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Oregon: the state government and every county in Oregon.
Nearby counties: Yamhill County (24 mi) · Benton County (28 mi) · Lincoln County (31 mi) · Marion County (40 mi) · Tillamook County (42 mi) · Washington County (47 mi).