4,824 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.1% since 2020)
915 square miles of land · 5 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.
5 active community water systems list Wheeler County in the area they serve, reporting 5,312 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SHAMROCK MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · TX2420001 | 2,311 served |
| WHEELER MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · TX2420002 | 1,602 served |
| PROJECT CAPROCK MAN CAMP private · TX2420019 | 1,150 served |
| FORT ELLIOTT CISD BRISCOE groundwater · local government · TX2420006 | 155 served |
| MOBEETIE CITY WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · TX2420004 | 94 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 25 people were held in Wheeler County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 32.
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 Wheeler County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $5.7 million — $5.1 million to run schools, about $13,202 per student, plus $359,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.7 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $752,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4 million.
Spent $6.9 million — $6.5 million to run schools, about $18,069 per student, plus $283,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.6 million local (mostly property tax), $3.4 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.8 million.
Spent $10.4 million — $3.4 million to run schools, about $21,908 per student, plus $882,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.8 million local (mostly property tax), $1.5 million state, $94,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.6 million.
Spent $6.6 million — $2.9 million to run schools, about $18,712 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6 million local (mostly property tax), $918,000 state, $228,000 federal. Long-term debt: $531,000.
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 Wheeler County about $9 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.
102 bridges in Wheeler County: 41 in good condition, 59 fair, and 2 poor (2.0%). “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.
| IH 40 SFR over ABANDONED CRIP RR · built 1932 | 1,280 vehicles a day |
| FM 2473 over NORTH FORK RED RIVER · built 1960 | 200 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $210,194 of work in Wheeler County in fiscal 2025, about $42 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 Wheeler 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 Wheeler County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Texas: the state government and every county in Texas.
Nearby counties: Hemphill County (29 mi) · Collingsworth County (30 mi) · Gray County (31 mi) · Beckham County, OK (33 mi) · Roger Mills County, OK (36 mi) · Donley County (44 mi).