23,051 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.9% since 2020)
359 square miles of land · 64 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.
4 active community water systems list Bell County in the area they serve, reporting 28,935 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PINEVILLE WATER SYSTEM surface water · local government · KY0070353 | 16,573 served |
| KENTUCKY AMERICAN WATER - MIDDLESBORO surface water · private · KY0070282 | 12,022 served |
| BELL COUNTY FORESTRY CAMP surface water · local government · KY0070729 | 275 served |
| FONDE WATER SYSTEM buys groundwater · local government · KY0073691 | 65 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 124 people were held in Bell County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 130.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Bell County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $41.7 million — $37.8 million to run schools, about $15,416 per student, plus $2.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.9 million local (mostly property tax), $21.7 million state, $9.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $21.2 million.
Spent $24 million — $19.1 million to run schools, about $17,021 per student, plus $4.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.2 million local (mostly property tax), $9.7 million state, $9.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $10 million.
Spent $9.6 million — $9 million to run schools, about $15,672 per student, plus $237,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.1 million local (mostly property tax), $5.4 million state, $3 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.6 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Bell County about $18.8 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.
205 bridges in Bell County: 31 in good condition, 155 fair, and 19 poor (9.3%). “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.
| US-25E over LITTLE YELLOW CREEK · built 1989 | 19,568 vehicles a day |
| 19TH STREET over YELLOW CREEK · built 1943 | 4,568 vehicles a day |
| 15TH STREET over LITTLE YELLOW CREEK · built 1930 | 3,879 vehicles a day |
| KY-221 over STONY FORK CREEK · built 1949 | 1,351 vehicles a day |
| KY-221 over RIGHT FORK OF STRAIGHT C · built 1950 | 1,351 vehicles a day |
| KY-190 over CLEAR CREEK · built 1978 | 645 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $16.2 million of work in Bell County in fiscal 2025, about $673 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 Kentucky 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 Bell 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 Bell County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Knox County (15 mi) · Claiborne County, TN (16 mi) · Whitley County (26 mi) · Harlan County (27 mi) · Hancock County, TN (29 mi) · Leslie County (30 mi).