218,190 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.2% since 2020)
1,700 square miles of land · 128 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.
44 active community water systems list Benton County in the area they serve, reporting 271,157 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| KENNEWICK CITY OF surface water · local government · WA5338100 | 118,164 served |
| RICHLAND CITY OF surface water · local government · WA5372250 | 106,499 served |
| WEST RICHLAND CITY OF buys surface water · local government · WA5394900 | 21,231 served |
| PROSSER CITY OF groundwater · local government · WA5369750 | 8,030 served |
| BENTON CITY WATER groundwater · local government · WA5305800 | 5,626 served |
| BADGER MOUNTAIN IRRIGATION DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · WA5322617 | 2,331 served |
| SUMMIT VIEW WATER SYSTEM groundwater · private · WA5303303 | 1,869 served |
| BC WATER CO groundwater · private · WA53AA373 | 1,262 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 416 people were held in Benton County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 309 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 590.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Benton County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $335.6 million — $293.6 million to run schools, about $15,202 per student, plus $32.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $36.3 million local (mostly property tax), $241.5 million state, $43.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $184.9 million.
Spent $246.7 million — $223.8 million to run schools, about $16,042 per student, plus $12.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $58.8 million local (mostly property tax), $170.5 million state, $16.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $164.8 million.
Spent $62.7 million — $44.6 million to run schools, about $18,483 per student, plus $15.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.4 million local (mostly property tax), $39.8 million state, $11.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $55.6 million.
Spent $25.3 million — $24.3 million to run schools, about $17,704 per student, plus $370,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.1 million local (mostly property tax), $19 million state, $3.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.9 million.
Spent $15.2 million — $14.5 million to run schools, about $16,644 per student, plus $170,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.5 million local (mostly property tax), $12.1 million state, $2.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $8 million.
Spent $3.2 million — $3 million to run schools, about $20,944 per student, plus $222,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $457,000 local (mostly property tax), $2.3 million state, $309,000 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: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Benton County about $69.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
167 bridges in Benton County: 95 in good condition, 61 fair, and 11 poor (6.6%). “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.
| WASHINGTON STREET over CID CANAL · built 1971 | 12,416 vehicles a day |
| I-82 over BN RY · built 1973 | 12,139 vehicles a day |
| I-82 over CHANDLER CANAL · built 1977 | 11,211 vehicles a day |
| I-82 over YAKIMA RIVER · built 1977 | 11,211 vehicles a day |
| I-82 over YAKIMA RIVER · built 1977 | 11,211 vehicles a day |
| GAP ROAD over I-82 · built 1978 | 6,869 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $138 million of work in Benton County in fiscal 2025, about $667 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 Washington 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 Benton 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 Benton County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Washington: the state government and every county in Washington.
Nearby counties: Franklin County (36 mi) · Walla Walla County (49 mi) · Morrow County, OR (56 mi) · Umatilla County, OR (58 mi) · Yakima County (60 mi) · Klickitat County (65 mi).