1,263 people (2024 Census estimate, −7.4% since 2020)
901 square miles of land · 1 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.
2 active community water systems list Cottle County in the area they serve, reporting 1,165 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CITY OF PADUCAH groundwater · local government · TX0510001 | 1,087 served |
| KING COTTLE WSC groundwater · local government · TX0510004 | 78 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 0 people were held in Cottle County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 0.
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.
1 school district has its office in Cottle County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $3.6 million — $3.1 million to run schools, about $19,646 per student, plus $512,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $876,000 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 Cottle County about $3.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
80 bridges in Cottle County: 28 in good condition, 51 fair, and 1 poor (1.3%). “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.
| CR 233 over SOUTH BUCK CREEK · built 1949 | 5 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $1.6 million of work in Cottle County in fiscal 2025, about $1,124 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.
General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-05. Early voting: 2026-10-19 to 2026-10-30. Mail ballot application must be received: 2026-10-23. Election Day: 2026-11-03.
Source: Texas Secretary of State, Sept. 28, 2026 · VoteTexas.gov — early voting · VoteTexas.gov
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Cottle 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 Cottle County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Texas: the state government and every county in Texas.
Nearby counties: Foard County (28 mi) · Motley County (30 mi) · Childress County (30 mi) · Hall County (30 mi) · King County (33 mi) · Hardeman County (33 mi).