234,954 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.3% since 2020)
2,108 square miles of land · 111 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.
102 active community water systems list Whatcom County in the area they serve, reporting 248,702 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BELLINGHAM-WATER DIVISION CITY OF surface water · local government · WA5305600 | 141,127 served |
| LYNDEN WATER DEPARTMENT surface water · local government · WA5349150 | 20,062 served |
| FERNDALE groundwater · local government · WA5324850 | 19,305 served |
| LWWSD - SOUTH SHORE WATER SYSTEM surface water · local government · WA5395910 | 10,028 served |
| BIRCH BAY WATER & SEWER DISTRICT buys groundwater · local government · WA5395904 | 9,046 served |
| BLAINE CITY OF groundwater · local government · WA5307300 | 6,800 served |
| EVERSON CITY OF groundwater · local government · WA5324200 | 3,893 served |
| Columbia Valley Water District groundwater · local government · WA5366110 | 2,648 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 335 people were held in Whatcom County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 219 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 314.
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 Whatcom County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $261.1 million — $207.7 million to run schools, about $17,886 per student, plus $35.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $82.9 million local (mostly property tax), $145.8 million state, $27.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $329.7 million.
Spent $128.1 million — $87.1 million to run schools, about $18,722 per student, plus $35.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.7 million local (mostly property tax), $65 million state, $10.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $96.6 million.
Spent $43.2 million — $41.6 million to run schools, about $19,968 per student, plus $549,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.3 million local (mostly property tax), $27.8 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $34.4 million.
Spent $39.6 million — $33.9 million to run schools, about $17,753 per student, plus $2.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8 million local (mostly property tax), $27.2 million state, $4.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $47.4 million.
Spent $31.3 million — $29.5 million to run schools, about $16,219 per student, plus $968,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.3 million local (mostly property tax), $21.9 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.7 million.
Spent $37 million — $34.8 million to run schools, about $20,586 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.6 million local (mostly property tax), $23.6 million state, $5 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.5 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 Whatcom County about $111.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
355 bridges in Whatcom County: 157 in good condition, 178 fair, and 20 poor (5.6%). “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 544 over NOOKSACK R OVERFLOW · built 1994 | 10,205 vehicles a day |
| SR 542 over OVERFLOW CHANNEL NO 2 · built 1948 | 10,027 vehicles a day |
| ELECTRIC AVENUE over WHATCOM CREEK · built 1959 | 8,500 vehicles a day |
| NB SR 539 over NOOKSACK R · built 1950 | 7,931 vehicles a day |
| MARINE DR over ACCESS RD CREEK OLD RR · built 1933 | 7,694 vehicles a day |
| MARINE DR over BNSF RR · built 1940 | 6,344 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $86.7 million of work in Whatcom County in fiscal 2025, about $382 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 Whatcom 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 Whatcom County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Washington: the state government and every county in Washington.
Nearby counties: Skagit County (24 mi) · Snohomish County (54 mi) · Island County (61 mi) · San Juan County (62 mi) · Chelan County (87 mi) · Kitsap County (91 mi).