15,993 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.4% since 2020)
1,081 square miles of land · 15 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.
9 active community water systems list Potter County in the area they serve, reporting 9,501 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| COUDERSPORT BORO AUTHORITY groundwater · local government · PA6530009 | 3,166 served |
| ROULETTE TWP WATER AUTHORITY groundwater · local government · PA6530007 | 1,300 served |
| SHINGLEHOUSE BORO WATER DEPT groundwater · local government · PA6530013 | 1,250 served |
| GALETON BOROUGH AUTHORITY surface water · local government · PA6530010 | 1,200 served |
| CHARLES COLE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL groundwater · private · PA6530015 | 750 served |
| AUSTIN BOROUGH WATER groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · PA6530005 | 700 served |
| ULYSSES MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY groundwater · local government · PA6530006 | 640 served |
| GENESEE TWP WATER AUTHORITY groundwater · local government · PA6530011 | 450 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 36 people were held in Potter County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 392 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 52.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Potter County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $18.8 million — $13.1 million to run schools, about $23,463 per student, plus $3.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.4 million local (mostly property tax), $8.5 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.6 million.
Spent $14.2 million — $11 million to run schools, about $21,689 per student, plus $2.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.4 million local (mostly property tax), $7.6 million state, $957,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4.8 million.
Spent $9.8 million — $7.9 million to run schools, about $23,229 per student, plus $581,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.9 million local (mostly property tax), $6.2 million state, $827,000 federal. Long-term debt: $283,000.
Spent $11.7 million — $8.2 million to run schools, about $25,102 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.1 million local (mostly property tax), $4.4 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $215,000.
Spent $4.6 million — $4 million to run schools, about $30,318 per student. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $2.8 million state, $399,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.3 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Potter County about $7.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
206 bridges in Potter County: 93 in good condition, 88 fair, and 25 poor (12.1%). “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.
| Bridge Street over DELAWARE RIVER · built 1961 | 1,322 vehicles a day |
| SR 49-PA 49 over PEET BROOK · built 1930 | 1,289 vehicles a day |
| GARRETSON STREET over WEST BRANCH FREEMAN RUN · built 1975 | 800 vehicles a day |
| ON AVENUE A over ALLEGHENY RIVER · built 1959 | 717 vehicles a day |
| SR 3002 over COWLEY RUN · built 1943 | 587 vehicles a day |
| SR 449-PA 449 over NINEMILE RUN · built 1926 | 580 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $4.1 million of work in Potter County in fiscal 2025, about $248 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 Potter 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 Potter County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Cameron County (27 mi) · Tioga County (33 mi) · Allegany County, NY (35 mi) · McKean County (35 mi) · Clinton County (38 mi) · Steuben County, NY (44 mi).