159,805 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.2% since 2020)
1,107 square miles of land · 144 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.
43 active community water systems list Centre County in the area they serve, reporting 175,643 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| STATE COLLEGE BORO WATER AUTH surface water · local government · PA4140096 | 72,000 served |
| PENN STATE UNIV groundwater · state · PA4140095 | 37,000 served |
| PAW PHILIPSBURG surface water · private · PA4140087 | 20,865 served |
| BELLEFONTE BOROUGH WATER AUTH groundwater · local government · PA4140075 | 9,500 served |
| COLLEGE TWP WATER AUTHORITY groundwater · local government · PA4140082 | 6,000 served |
| MOUNTAINTOP REG WATER AUTH groundwater · local government · PA4140090 | 3,456 served |
| SPRING TWP WATER AUTHORITY groundwater · local government · PA4140118 | 3,300 served |
| WALKER TWP WATER ASSN groundwater · private · PA4140120 | 3,250 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 191 people were held in Centre County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 168 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 274.
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 Centre County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $174.9 million — $156 million to run schools, about $23,012 per student, plus $7.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $151.8 million local (mostly property tax), $36.2 million state, $5.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $194.2 million.
Spent $55.5 million — $51.3 million to run schools, about $19,729 per student, plus $774,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $37.4 million local (mostly property tax), $19.7 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.1 million.
Spent $35.3 million — $31.5 million to run schools, about $20,601 per student, plus $1.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19.4 million local (mostly property tax), $17 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.6 million.
Spent $29.5 million — $26.3 million to run schools, about $19,448 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $20 million local (mostly property tax), $11.9 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $18.7 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 Centre County about $24.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
366 bridges in Centre County: 176 in good condition, 168 fair, and 22 poor (6.0%). “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.
| SR 150-PA 150 over LOGAN BRANCH · built 1934 | 14,674 vehicles a day |
| SR 150-PA 150 over HOLT HOLLOW RUN · built 1966 | 5,392 vehicles a day |
| SR 64-PA 64 over LITTLE FISHING CREEK · built 1958 | 4,386 vehicles a day |
| SR 4005 over SR 80-I 80 · built 1965 | 3,887 vehicles a day |
| SR 26-PA 26 over SEDA-COG/NIT& BALD EAGLE · built 1967 | 2,573 vehicles a day |
| SR 26-PA 26 over BALD EAGLE CREEK · built 1966 | 2,573 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $307.8 million of work in Centre County in fiscal 2025, about $1,946 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 Pennsylvania 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 Centre 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 Centre County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Mifflin County (24 mi) · Clinton County (25 mi) · Clearfield County (34 mi) · Huntingdon County (34 mi) · Juniata County (35 mi) · Blair County (37 mi).