12,928 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.3% since 2020)
179 square miles of land · 72 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 Powell County in the area they serve, reporting 15,917 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| POWELL VALLEY WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · KY0990357 | 7,128 served |
| STANTON WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · KY0990418 | 6,611 served |
| CLAY CITY WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · KY0990074 | 2,153 served |
| BEECH FORK WATER COMMISSION surface water · local government · KY0990281 | 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 226 people were held in Powell County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 248.
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 Powell County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $33.6 million — $30 million to run schools, about $14,085 per student, plus $2.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.1 million local (mostly property tax), $19.3 million state, $9.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.5 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 Powell County about $6.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
110 bridges in Powell County: 43 in good condition, 65 fair, and 2 poor (1.8%). “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-1184 over RED RIVER · built 1970 | 612 vehicles a day |
| Millstone conn. over Brush creek · built 2007 | 33 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $5.5 million of work in Powell County in fiscal 2025, about $419 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 Powell 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 Powell County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Kentucky: the state government and every county in Kentucky.
Nearby counties: Estill County (11 mi) · Lee County (15 mi) · Menifee County (16 mi) · Montgomery County (16 mi) · Wolfe County (19 mi) · Clark County (20 mi).