3,550 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.6% since 2020)
177 square miles of land · 20 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 Hardin County in the area they serve, reporting 3,897 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| IL AMERICAN-HARDIN COUNTY buys groundwater · local government · IL0690020 | 1,373 served |
| IL AMERICAN-ROSICLARE groundwater (surface-influenced) · private · IL0690160 | 1,233 served |
| HARDIN COUNTY WATER DISTRICT NO.1 buys groundwater · local government · IL0695000 | 843 served |
| CAVE-IN-ROCK buys groundwater · local government · IL0690050 | 228 served |
| ELIZABETHTOWN buys groundwater · local government · IL0690100 | 220 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 72 people were held in Hardin County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 3,437 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 3.
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.
1 school district has its office in Hardin County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $9.5 million — $8.1 million to run schools, about $15,244 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.5 million local (mostly property tax), $7.2 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.6 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Hardin County about $3.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
61 bridges in Hardin County: 35 in good condition, 22 fair, and 4 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.
| ILL 146 over HOSICK CREEK · built 1953 | 1,500 vehicles a day |
| FAS 2934-FH 141 over BIG CREEK · built 1968 | 100 vehicles a day |
| TR 85 over BRANCH OF BIG CREEK · built 1968 | 25 vehicles a day |
| MARKET STREET over UNNAMED STREAM · built 1900 | 10 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $1.6 million of work in Hardin County in fiscal 2025, about $443 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 Illinois 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 Hardin 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 Hardin County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Illinois: the state government and every county in Illinois.
Nearby counties: Crittenden County, KY (14 mi) · Pope County (17 mi) · Gallatin County (17 mi) · Union County, KY (20 mi) · Livingston County, KY (22 mi) · Saline County (22 mi).