47,777 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.9% since 2020)
160 square miles of land · 299 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.
3 active community water systems list Boyd County in the area they serve, reporting 66,399 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ASHLAND WATER WORKS surface water · local government · KY0100011 | 44,402 served |
| BIG SANDY WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · KY0100944 | 13,044 served |
| CANNONSBURG WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · KY0100064 | 8,953 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 279 people were held in Boyd County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 275.
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 Boyd County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $50.1 million — $47.9 million to run schools, about $14,691 per student, plus $1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.3 million local (mostly property tax), $28.2 million state, $12.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $25.4 million.
Spent $57.4 million — $51.1 million to run schools, about $16,486 per student, plus $3.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $18.4 million local (mostly property tax), $30.2 million state, $11.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $45.7 million.
Spent $10.3 million — $9.7 million to run schools, about $16,732 per student, plus $76,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $6.3 million state, $2.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.6 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 Boyd County about $29.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
89 bridges in Boyd County: 28 in good condition, 54 fair, and 7 poor (7.9%). “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.
| STRAIGHT CRK over STRAIGHT CREEK · built 1930 | 545 vehicles a day |
| KY-854 over E. FORK OF LITTLE SANDY · built 1977 | 498 vehicles a day |
| KY-966 over E. FRK.LITTLE SANDY R. · built 1979 | 285 vehicles a day |
| KY-966 over TRACE CREEK · built 1984 | 285 vehicles a day |
| CR-1335A over SHOPE CREEK · built 1935 | 223 vehicles a day |
| KY-1945 over GARNER CREEK · built 1974 | 140 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $38.6 million of work in Boyd County in fiscal 2025, about $800 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 Boyd 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 Boyd County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Lawrence County, OH (19 mi) · Greenup County (20 mi) · Carter County (20 mi) · Lawrence County (20 mi) · Wayne County, WV (20 mi) · Cabell County, WV (24 mi).