29,777 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.5% since 2020)
875 square miles of land · 34 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.
8 active community water systems list Bladen County in the area they serve, reporting 35,707 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BLADEN CO WTR DIST-WEST BLADEN groundwater · local government · NC0309055 | 14,408 served |
| WHITE LAKE, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0309030 | 5,770 served |
| ELIZABETHTOWN, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0309010 | 5,575 served |
| BLADEN CO WTR DIST-EAST BLADEN groundwater · local government · NC0309060 | 4,310 served |
| BLADENBORO, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0309015 | 3,175 served |
| CLARKTON, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0309020 | 1,233 served |
| EAST ARCADIA, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0309050 | 633 served |
| DUBLIN, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0309025 | 603 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 199 people were held in Bladen County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 1,142 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 116.
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 Bladen County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $94.6 million — $64.9 million to run schools, about $16,306 per student, plus $27.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.3 million local (mostly property tax), $63 million state, $23.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $508,000.
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 Bladen County about $38.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
124 bridges in Bladen County: 88 in good condition, 34 fair, and 2 poor (1.6%). “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.
| SR1543 over LYON SWAMP CANAL · built 1954 | 120 vehicles a day |
| SR1172 over BROWN MARSH SWAMP · built 1984 | 70 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $4.7 million of work in Bladen County in fiscal 2025, about $157 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.
General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-09. Early voting: 2026-10-15 to 2026-10-31. Mail ballot request deadline: 2026-10-20. Election Day: 2026-11-03.
Source: NC State Board of Elections: upcoming election · NC State Board of Elections: vote in person · NC State Board of Elections: voter ID
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Bladen 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 Bladen County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Columbus County (23 mi) · Sampson County (29 mi) · Robeson County (32 mi) · Cumberland County (36 mi) · Pender County (37 mi) · Duplin County (42 mi).