12,804 people (2024 Census estimate, −6.5% since 2020)
492 square miles of land · 26 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 Breathitt County in the area they serve, reporting 9,872 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BREATHITT CO WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · KY0131012 | 5,068 served |
| JACKSON MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS surface water · local government · KY0130208 | 4,704 served |
| MT CARMEL HIGH BOARDING SCHOOL groundwater · private · KY0130949 | 100 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 62 people were held in Breathitt County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 754 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 144.
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 Breathitt County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $39.3 million — $26.6 million to run schools, about $15,655 per student, plus $11.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.6 million local (mostly property tax), $19.8 million state, $9.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $21.2 million.
Spent $5.3 million — $5 million to run schools, about $14,447 per student, plus $48,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $780,000 local (mostly property tax), $3.7 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.6 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 Breathitt County about $14.8 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.
125 bridges in Breathitt County: 58 in good condition, 60 fair, and 7 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.
| KY-1812 over QUICKSAND CREEK · built 1929 | 1,483 vehicles a day |
| BARTLETT PARK ROAD over LITTLE YELLOW CREEK · built 1970 | 400 vehicles a day |
| KY-1812 over COPE FK OF FROZEN CREEK · built 1939 | 199 vehicles a day |
| UPPER LAUREL FORK over LAUREL FK-BUCKHORN CRK · built 1974 | 72 vehicles a day |
| Jones Branch over South Fk Quicksand Creek · built 2013 | 55 vehicles a day |
| GREASY CREEK ROAD over SHOULDER BLADE CREEK · built 1975 | 41 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $35.3 million of work in Breathitt County in fiscal 2025, about $2,576 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 Breathitt 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 Breathitt County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Wolfe County (18 mi) · Magoffin County (18 mi) · Perry County (20 mi) · Owsley County (22 mi) · Lee County (23 mi) · Knott County (23 mi).