23,515 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.8% since 2020)
249 square miles of land · 94 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 Mercer County in the area they serve, reporting 26,366 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NORTH MERCER WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · KY0840321 | 9,775 served |
| HARRODSBURG MUNICIPAL WATER DEPARTMENT surface water · local government · KY0840180 | 8,310 served |
| LAKE VILLAGE WATER ASSOCIATION buys surface water · private · KY0840587 | 6,855 served |
| BURGIN WATER DEPARTMENT buys surface water · local government · KY0840048 | 1,426 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 16 people were held in Mercer County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (1978), or 134 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 1970 it was about 15.
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 Mercer County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $46.5 million — $37.2 million to run schools, about $13,648 per student, plus $7.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.8 million local (mostly property tax), $22.5 million state, $6.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $21.2 million.
Spent $7.6 million — $7.2 million to run schools, about $14,614 per student, plus $164,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.8 million local (mostly property tax), $3.8 million state, $1 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.3 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 Mercer County about $12.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
76 bridges in Mercer County: 25 in good condition, 45 fair, and 6 poor (7.9%). “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.
| US-68 over KENTUCKY RIVER · built 1954 | 2,641 vehicles a day |
| PARADISE CAMP RD over BR OF CANE RUN · built 1940 | 660 vehicles a day |
| KY 1989 over HAYDEN CREEK · built 1982 | 225 vehicles a day |
| KY-2329 over TOWN CREEK · built 1965 | 189 vehicles a day |
| ALFORD RD over S.FK. BUCHANAH CREEK · built 1965 | 165 vehicles a day |
| HENRY ROBINSON RD over BRUSH CREEK · built 1983 | 26 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.8 million of work in Mercer County in fiscal 2025, about $124 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 Mercer 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 Mercer County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Boyle County (13 mi) · Anderson County (15 mi) · Washington County (17 mi) · Jessamine County (17 mi) · Woodford County (17 mi) · Garrard County (22 mi).