292,029 people (2024 Census estimate, +19.7% since 2020)
677 square miles of land · 431 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.
52 active community water systems list Hays County in the area they serve, reporting 291,958 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CITY OF SAN MARCOS surface water · local government · TX1050001 | 72,970 served |
| CITY OF KYLE buys surface water · local government · TX1050002 | 52,000 served |
| TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY - SAN MARCOS groundwater · state · TX1050003 | 43,552 served |
| GOFORTH SUD buys surface water · local government · TX1050019 | 34,893 served |
| COUNTY LINE SUD buys surface water · local government · TX1050038 | 19,609 served |
| CITY OF BUDA buys surface water · local government · TX1050012 | 13,830 served |
| DRIPPING SPRINGS WSC buys surface water · local government · TX1050013 | 8,037 served |
| PLUM CREEK buys surface water · private · TX1050028 | 7,065 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 435 people were held in Hays County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 407.
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 Hays County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $346.6 million — $251.7 million to run schools, about $11,289 per student, plus $71.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $222.1 million local (mostly property tax), $71.6 million state, $29 million federal. Long-term debt: $506.9 million.
Spent $120.6 million — $107.8 million to run schools, about $12,760 per student, plus $3.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $104.7 million local (mostly property tax), $11.5 million state, $24.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $209.1 million.
Spent $136 million — $87.6 million to run schools, about $10,459 per student, plus $13.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $110.8 million local (mostly property tax), $12.6 million state, $5.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $263.4 million.
Spent $41.9 million — $29.2 million to run schools, about $10,797 per student, plus $396,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $34.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3 million state, $2.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $97.6 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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Hays County about $108.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
273 bridges in Hays County: 208 in good condition, 64 fair, and 1 poor (0.4%). “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.
| SH 123 over BIG COTTONWOOD CREEK · built 1929 | 24,909 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $98.8 million of work in Hays County in fiscal 2025, about $410 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 Hays 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 Hays County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Texas: the state government and every county in Texas.
Nearby counties: Comal County (22 mi) · Travis County (24 mi) · Blanco County (26 mi) · Caldwell County (29 mi) · Guadalupe County (33 mi) · Kendall County (41 mi).