9,126 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.1% since 2020)
253 square miles of land · 36 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.
6 active community water systems list McLean County in the area they serve, reporting 8,537 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SACRAMENTO WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · KY0750907 | 2,435 served |
| LIVERMORE WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · KY0750252 | 2,138 served |
| ISLAND WATER DEPARTMENT buys surface water · local government · KY0750207 | 1,512 served |
| BEECH GROVE WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · KY0750529 | 1,461 served |
| CALHOUN WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · KY0750055 | 966 served |
| MCLEAN COUNTY REGIONAL WATER COMMISSION surface water · local government · KY0753505 | 25 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 5 people were held in McLean County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (1983), or 80 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 1978 it was about 2.
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.
1 school district has its office in McLean County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $20.7 million — $20 million to run schools, about $14,209 per student, plus $206,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.6 million local (mostly property tax), $12.8 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.9 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost McLean County about $9.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
75 bridges in McLean County: 7 in good condition, 60 fair, and 8 poor (10.7%). “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-136 over MYER CREEK · built 1956 | 3,076 vehicles a day |
| KY-81 over UNNAME STREAM · built 1925 | 2,979 vehicles a day |
| KY-136 over BUCK CREEK · built 1932 | 1,367 vehicles a day |
| KY-140 over BR OF LONG FALLS CREEK · built 1938 | 440 vehicles a day |
| KY-140 over PORTERS DITCH · built 1938 | 260 vehicles a day |
| KY-256 over YELLOW CREEK · built 1966 | 153 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $6 million of work in McLean County in fiscal 2025, about $659 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 McLean 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 McLean County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Daviess County (17 mi) · Hopkins County (21 mi) · Muhlenberg County (23 mi) · Webster County (23 mi) · Ohio County (23 mi) · Henderson County (25 mi).