941,170 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.9% since 2020)
1,668 square miles of land · 564 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.
227 active community water systems list Pierce County in the area they serve, reporting 1,140,750 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| TACOMA WATER DIVISION CITY OF surface water · local government · WA5386800 | 446,245 served |
| PUYALLUP CITY OF buys surface water · local government · WA5370050 | 94,520 served |
| LAKEWOOD WATER DISTRICT groundwater · local government · WA5345550 | 82,425 served |
| SOUTHWOOD buys surface water · private · WA5382844 | 64,155 served |
| BONNEY LAKE WATER DEPARTMENT CITY buys surface water · local government · WA5307650 | 43,371 served |
| FIRGROVE MUTUAL INC buys surface water · private · WA5325200 | 36,168 served |
| JBLM Lewis groundwater · federal · WA5326050 | 35,414 served |
| SPANAWAY WATER COMPANY groundwater · private · WA5382850 | 34,506 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 768 people were held in Pierce County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 126 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 1,176.
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.
15 school districts have their office in Pierce County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $687.2 million — $557.1 million to run schools, about $19,679 per student, plus $124.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $206.7 million local (mostly property tax), $366.9 million state, $82.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $939.4 million.
Spent $430.7 million — $390 million to run schools, about $16,882 per student, plus $20.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $110 million local (mostly property tax), $290.7 million state, $23.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $292.1 million.
Spent $429.6 million — $325.2 million to run schools, about $15,370 per student, plus $82.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $114.1 million local (mostly property tax), $272.8 million state, $29.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $354.5 million.
Spent $257.2 million — $242.1 million to run schools, about $19,263 per student, plus $6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $41.8 million local (mostly property tax), $173.5 million state, $52.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $107.4 million.
Spent $205.3 million — $160.8 million to run schools, about $15,438 per student, plus $32.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $68.5 million local (mostly property tax), $139.9 million state, $8.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $196.6 million.
Spent $189.2 million — $154.4 million to run schools, about $17,219 per student, plus $23.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $46.6 million local (mostly property tax), $128.9 million state, $4.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $154.7 million.
Spent $173.6 million — $141.6 million to run schools, about $19,065 per student, plus $24.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $33.9 million local (mostly property tax), $99.9 million state, $28.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $127.8 million.
Spent $96.7 million — $89.9 million to run schools, about $15,994 per student, plus $3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $28.4 million local (mostly property tax), $67.5 million state, $6.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $31.9 million.
And 7 more.
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 High compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Pierce County about $531.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
480 bridges in Pierce County: 267 in good condition, 191 fair, and 22 poor (4.6%). “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.
| SR 99 (54TH AVE E) over I-5 RAMPS · built 1961 | 29,145 vehicles a day |
| SR 167 over BNSF RR · built 1934 | 28,316 vehicles a day |
| GRAVELLY LAKE DR over BNRR (NP) · built 1959 | 27,805 vehicles a day |
| SR 302 over HENDERSON BAY · built 1936 | 23,753 vehicles a day |
| PORTLAND AVE over PUYALLUP AVE NPRR · built 1973 | 19,549 vehicles a day |
| Fish War Mem X-ing over RAILROAD · built 1925 | 15,256 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $475.6 million of work in Pierce County in fiscal 2025, about $516 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 Pierce 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 Pierce County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Washington: the state government and every county in Washington.
Nearby counties: Thurston County (33 mi) · King County (34 mi) · Lewis County (34 mi) · Kitsap County (47 mi) · Mason County (52 mi) · Cowlitz County (64 mi).