25,052 people (2024 Census estimate, −6.4% since 2020)
466 square miles of land · 54 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.
15 active community water systems list Harlan County in the area they serve, reporting 27,083 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| HARLAN MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS surface water · local government · KY0480178 | 4,574 served |
| CAWOOD WATER DISTRICT surface water · local government · KY0480565 | 4,428 served |
| EVARTS MUNICIPAL WATER PLANT groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · KY0480125 | 3,059 served |
| CUMBERLAND MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS surface water · local government · KY0480092 | 2,843 served |
| BLACK MTN UTILITY/DAYHOIT buys surface water · private · KY0480277 | 1,954 served |
| BLACK MTN UTILITY/ROSSPOINT buys surface water · private · KY0480650 | 1,889 served |
| BLACK MTN UTILITY/WALLINS buys surface water · local government · KY0480572 | 1,485 served |
| GREEN HILLS WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · KY0480341 | 1,443 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 190 people were held in Harlan County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 202.
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 Harlan County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $57.5 million — $51.4 million to run schools, about $14,873 per student, plus $4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.7 million local (mostly property tax), $38.8 million state, $16.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $29 million.
Spent $12.6 million — $10.3 million to run schools, about $12,385 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $9.6 million state, $2.7 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 Harlan County about $17.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
253 bridges in Harlan County: 68 in good condition, 146 fair, and 39 poor (15.4%). “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.
| KY-72 over MARTINS FK CUMBERLAND RV · built 1970 | 2,881 vehicles a day |
| KY-72 over POOR FK CUMBERLAND RVR · built 1978 | 2,443 vehicles a day |
| KY-2179 over POOR FK CUMBERLAND RVR · built 1978 | 2,421 vehicles a day |
| KY-38 over LIGES BRANCH · built 1950 | 1,647 vehicles a day |
| KY-1254 over POOR FK CUMBERLAND RVR · built 1928 | 1,473 vehicles a day |
| US-421 over MILLS BRANCH · built 1934 | 1,251 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $15.9 million of work in Harlan County in fiscal 2025, about $592 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 Harlan 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 Harlan County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Lee County, VA (12 mi) · Leslie County (18 mi) · Hancock County, TN (23 mi) · Perry County (26 mi) · Letcher County (27 mi) · Bell County (27 mi).