174,862 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.3% since 2020)
160 square miles of land · 1,090 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.
1 active community water system list Kenton County in the area they serve, reporting 259,949 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NORTHERN KENTUCKY WATER DISTRICT surface water · local government · KY0590220 | 259,949 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 669 people were held in Kenton County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 570.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Kenton County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $227.7 million — $171 million to run schools, about $12,155 per student, plus $48.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $92.6 million local (mostly property tax), $97.2 million state, $18.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $202.3 million.
Spent $73 million — $62 million to run schools, about $16,918 per student, plus $7.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $23.5 million local (mostly property tax), $38.7 million state, $17.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $16.4 million.
Spent $43.6 million — $34.8 million to run schools, about $14,540 per student, plus $5.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.1 million local (mostly property tax), $20.2 million state, $8.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $16.3 million.
Spent $29.7 million — $18.4 million to run schools, about $12,233 per student, plus $9.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.7 million local (mostly property tax), $11.1 million state, $775,000 federal. Long-term debt: $59.8 million.
Spent $15.8 million — $12.9 million to run schools, about $15,569 per student, plus $2.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.4 million local (mostly property tax), $30.7 million state, $2.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.2 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 Kenton County about $46.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
142 bridges in Kenton County: 56 in good condition, 72 fair, and 14 poor (9.9%). “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.
| PARKWAY AVE over PARKWAY ST OVER KY 8 · built 1960 | 15,394 vehicles a day |
| 4TH STREET over LICKING RIVER · built 1936 | 11,608 vehicles a day |
| US25/US42/US127 over OHIO RIVER · built 1974 | 11,223 vehicles a day |
| KY 17 over OHIO RIVER · built 1867 | 9,054 vehicles a day |
| HARTMAN RD over VIOX CREEK · built 1961 | 4,251 vehicles a day |
| GARVEY AVENUE over NS (CNO&TP) SYSTEM · built 1940 | 3,908 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $43.8 million of work in Kenton County in fiscal 2025, about $259 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 Kenton 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 Kenton County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Campbell County (8 mi) · Boone County (11 mi) · Hamilton County, OH (18 mi) · Pendleton County (19 mi) · Grant County (20 mi) · Gallatin County (22 mi).