293,029 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.2% since 2020)
525 square miles of land · 558 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.
28 active community water systems list Dauphin County in the area they serve, reporting 263,371 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| VEOLIA WATER surface water · private · PA7220015 | 110,000 served |
| CAPITAL REGION WATER surface water · local government · PA7220049 | 66,540 served |
| PA AMER WATER CO surface water · private · PA7220017 | 50,200 served |
| VEOLIA MIDDLETOWN groundwater · local government · PA7220038 | 9,600 served |
| PA AMERICAN WATER STEELTON surface water · local government · PA7220036 | 6,428 served |
| MILLERSBURG WATER AUTH surface water · local government · PA7220034 | 4,600 served |
| LYKENS BORO AUTH surface water · local government · PA7220022 | 3,220 served |
| ELIZABETHVILLE AREA AUTH groundwater · private · PA7220003 | 2,700 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 1,012 people were held in Dauphin County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 554 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 1,002.
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.
11 school districts have their office in Dauphin County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $237.2 million — $209.8 million to run schools, about $16,810 per student, plus $5.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $171.8 million local (mostly property tax), $59.1 million state, $25.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $130.6 million.
Spent $185.7 million — $145.8 million to run schools, about $22,772 per student, plus $17.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $63.6 million local (mostly property tax), $108.1 million state, $39.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $212.3 million.
Spent $69.2 million — $64.6 million to run schools, about $18,622 per student, plus $1.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $44.7 million local (mostly property tax), $24.3 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.4 million.
Spent $69.2 million — $63.8 million to run schools, about $20,154 per student, plus $983,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $59.1 million local (mostly property tax), $15.9 million state, $4.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $22.1 million.
Spent $62.9 million — $50.7 million to run schools, about $16,550 per student, plus $6.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $44.6 million local (mostly property tax), $13.8 million state, $5.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $36 million.
Spent $56 million — $47.4 million to run schools, about $20,069 per student, plus $4.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $36 million local (mostly property tax), $18.7 million state, $6.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $45.1 million.
Spent $32 million — $28.8 million to run schools, about $20,946 per student, plus $576,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.8 million local (mostly property tax), $18.3 million state, $4.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.4 million.
Spent $24.5 million — $22.1 million to run schools, about $20,784 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.5 million local (mostly property tax), $11.8 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $8 million.
And 3 more.
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 Dauphin County about $99.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
448 bridges in Dauphin County: 96 in good condition, 311 fair, and 41 poor (9.2%). “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 0083; I-83 over SUSQ.RIVER;R.R.LOWTHER S · built 1960 | 89,499 vehicles a day |
| US 22; SR 0022 over SUSQUEHANNA RIVER · built 1986 | 28,506 vehicles a day |
| PA 230; SR 0230 over ASYLUM RUN · built 1950 | 22,619 vehicles a day |
| SR 3009 Paxton St over Norfolk Southern RR · built 1929 | 18,893 vehicles a day |
| SR 3012 over SPRING CREEK · built 1938 | 14,239 vehicles a day |
| SR 2019 S.Nyes Rd. over BEAVER CREEK · built 1984 | 12,843 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.7 billion of work in Dauphin County in fiscal 2025, about $9,597 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 Dauphin 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 Dauphin County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Lebanon County (17 mi) · Perry County (25 mi) · Snyder County (28 mi) · Cumberland County (30 mi) · Northumberland County (31 mi) · Juniata County (33 mi).