23,869 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.6% since 2020)
613 square miles of land · 39 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 Winston County in the area they serve, reporting 31,131 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| HALEYVILLE, WATER WORKS & SEWER BOARD buys surface water · local government · AL0001411 | 11,865 served |
| ARLEY WATER WORKS surface water · local government · AL0001403 | 8,673 served |
| DOUBLE SPRINGS, TOWN OF W&S BOARD buys surface water · local government · AL0001410 | 6,075 served |
| ADDISON WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · AL0001402 | 2,622 served |
| LYNN WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · AL0001412 | 1,896 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 125 people were held in Winston County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2022), or 858 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2017 it was about 112.
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.
2 school districts have their office in Winston County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $42.6 million — $34.1 million to run schools, about $14,792 per student, plus $7.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.4 million local (mostly property tax), $21.9 million state, $7.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.7 million.
Spent $22.5 million — $20.9 million to run schools, about $12,684 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.6 million local (mostly property tax), $14.9 million state, $3.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $8 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Winston County about $12.4 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.
78 bridges in Winston County: 26 in good condition, 47 fair, and 5 poor (6.4%). “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.
| ALABAMA AVENUE over SOUTHERN RAILROAD · built 1930 | 300 vehicles a day |
| CO RD 70 over BROWNS CREEK · built 1971 | 300 vehicles a day |
| CO RD 2 over CANE CREEK · built 1958 | 150 vehicles a day |
| CO RD 416 over SANDY CREEK · built 1988 | 100 vehicles a day |
| RUSH CREEK-Bridge over RUSH CREEK · built 1946 | 100 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.3 million of work in Winston County in fiscal 2025, about $99 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 Alabama 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 Winston 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 Winston County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Alabama: the state government and every county in Alabama.
Nearby counties: Walker County (25 mi) · Lawrence County (26 mi) · Cullman County (28 mi) · Marion County (29 mi) · Franklin County (34 mi) · Morgan County (36 mi).