20,139 people (2024 Census estimate, −6.2% since 2020)
338 square miles of land · 60 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 Letcher County in the area they serve, reporting 12,355 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WHITESBURG WATER WORKS surface water · local government · KY0670466 | 3,861 served |
| FLEMING-NEON WATER COMPANY buys surface water · private · KY0670279 | 3,212 served |
| LETCHER COUNTY WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · KY0670462 | 2,673 served |
| JENKINS WATER SYSTEM surface water · local government · KY0670213 | 2,609 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 67 people were held in Letcher County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 111.
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 Letcher County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $60 million — $53.6 million to run schools, about $20,652 per student, plus $4.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.7 million local (mostly property tax), $42.3 million state, $9.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $12.5 million.
Spent $8.6 million — $7.7 million to run schools, about $16,160 per student, plus $742,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.7 million local (mostly property tax), $4.6 million state, $2.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.7 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 Letcher County about $16.9 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.
181 bridges in Letcher County: 72 in good condition, 92 fair, and 17 poor (9.4%). “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-931 over Sandlick Creek · built 1931 | 2,026 vehicles a day |
| KY-931 over N Fork Kentucky River · built 1968 | 1,962 vehicles a day |
| Kona Dr Conn over Boone Fork · built 1950 | 1,074 vehicles a day |
| KY-160 over LINE FORK CREEK · built 1948 | 774 vehicles a day |
| KY-7 over CSX RR & N Frk KY River · built 1940 | 692 vehicles a day |
| KY-160 over KINGS CREEK · built 1934 | 633 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $61.7 million of work in Letcher County in fiscal 2025, about $2,863 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 Letcher 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 Letcher County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Wise County, VA (17 mi) · Knott County (17 mi) · Norton city, VA (18 mi) · Perry County (21 mi) · Harlan County (27 mi) · Dickenson County, VA (28 mi).