67,550 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.6% since 2020)
249 square miles of land · 272 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.
2 active community water systems list McCracken County in the area they serve, reporting 65,098 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PADUCAH WATER WORKS surface water · local government · KY0730533 | 65,004 served |
| LOCUST VALLEY MOBILE EST groundwater · private · KY0730522 | 94 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 422 people were held in McCracken County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 393.
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 McCracken County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $117.7 million — $91.9 million to run schools, about $13,196 per student, plus $21.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $38.3 million local (mostly property tax), $51.3 million state, $15.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $76.4 million.
Spent $74.2 million — $46.9 million to run schools, about $15,048 per student, plus $23.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.9 million local (mostly property tax), $26.4 million state, $28.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $41.9 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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost McCracken County about $78.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
200 bridges in McCracken County: 79 in good condition, 106 fair, and 15 poor (7.5%). “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.
| US-60 over P&L RAILWAY · built 1937 | 16,923 vehicles a day |
| KY-994 over CLEAR CREEK · built 1969 | 3,427 vehicles a day |
| KY-3520 over P&L RAILWAY · built 1936 | 1,017 vehicles a day |
| LANE RD over ISLAND CREEK · built 1970 | 840 vehicles a day |
| KY-339 over BRANCH OF MAYFIELD CREEK · built 1969 | 783 vehicles a day |
| KY-1420 over BRANCH OF MASSAC CREEK · built 1969 | 665 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $33.2 million of work in McCracken County in fiscal 2025, about $489 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 McCracken 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 McCracken County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Massac County, IL (11 mi) · Ballard County (16 mi) · Carlisle County (20 mi) · Livingston County (22 mi) · Graves County (23 mi) · Marshall County (24 mi).