8,179 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.7% since 2020)
292 square miles of land · 28 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 Graham County in the area they serve, reporting 4,702 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ROBBINSVILLE, TOWN OF surface water · local government · NC0138010 | 2,916 served |
| TOWN OF FONTANA DAM surface water · local government · NC0138101 | 950 served |
| LAKE SANTEETLAH, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0138105 | 498 served |
| TOBACCO BRANCH VILLAGE groundwater · private · NC0138106 | 163 served |
| CROSS CREEK S/D groundwater · private · NC0138107 | 117 served |
| SANTEETLAH SHORES groundwater · private · NC0138103 | 58 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 9 people were held in Graham County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 189 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 8.
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 Graham County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $20.7 million — $19 million to run schools, about $16,628 per student, plus $1.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $13.8 million state, $4.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.7 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 Graham County about $5.5 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.
94 bridges in Graham County: 31 in good condition, 60 fair, and 3 poor (3.2%). “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.
| NC28 over LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER · built 1943 | 800 vehicles a day |
| SR1236 over SOUTH FORK SAWYER CREEK · built 1962 | 200 vehicles a day |
| SR1202 over TULULA CREEK · built 1960 | 180 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $19.7 million of work in Graham County in fiscal 2025, about $2,449 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 Graham 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 Graham County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Cherokee County (20 mi) · Clay County (21 mi) · Blount County, TN (24 mi) · Monroe County, TN (25 mi) · Swain County (26 mi) · Macon County (27 mi).