63,218 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.3% since 2020)
504 square miles of land · 126 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.
13 active community water systems list Athens County in the area they serve, reporting 75,476 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ATHENS PWS groundwater · private · OH0500212 | 32,725 served |
| LE-AX REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT PWS groundwater · private · OH0501111 | 19,311 served |
| NELSONVILLE PWS groundwater · local government · OH0501214 | 6,656 served |
| SUNDAY CREEK VALLEY WATER PWS buys groundwater · private · OH0501503 | 5,451 served |
| ATHENS CO., THE PLAINS S.D. 1 PWS buys groundwater · private · OH0500303 | 3,276 served |
| BURR OAK REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT groundwater · private · OH0501311 | 1,994 served |
| GLOUSTER PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM buys groundwater · private · OH0500703 | 1,659 served |
| CHAUNCEY groundwater · private · OH0500512 | 1,428 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 91 people were held in Athens County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 199 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 105.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Athens County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $53.7 million — $38.2 million to run schools, about $16,345 per student, plus $13.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $31.3 million local (mostly property tax), $10.9 million state, $8.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $54.3 million.
Spent $22.8 million — $20.7 million to run schools, about $14,567 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.3 million local (mostly property tax), $10.6 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.3 million.
Spent $18.9 million — $17 million to run schools, about $16,164 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $11.8 million state, $2.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.8 million.
Spent $19.6 million — $16.2 million to run schools, about $18,671 per student, plus $2.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.4 million local (mostly property tax), $9.2 million state, $4.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $187,000.
Spent $19.6 million — $16 million to run schools, about $21,995 per student, plus $3.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.7 million local (mostly property tax), $10.8 million state, $3.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $198,000.
Spent $11.4 million — $9.3 million to run schools, about $17,555 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.8 million local (mostly property tax), $6.1 million state, $992,000 federal.
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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Athens County about $25.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
305 bridges in Athens County: 164 in good condition, 125 fair, and 16 poor (5.2%). “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.
| CR13 over BILLY CREEK · built 1961 | 477 vehicles a day |
| VALLEY STREET over W BRANCH SUNDAY CREEK · built 1900 | 450 vehicles a day |
| TR 315 over WEST BRCH SUNDAY CREEK · built 1975 | 365 vehicles a day |
| T1259 over SUNDAY CRK (CONGRESS RUN · built 1951 | 324 vehicles a day |
| CAN TWP RD 223 over BUCKLEY RUN · built 1992 | 324 vehicles a day |
| TR 133 over TRIB TO HOCKING RIVER · built 1950 | 324 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $51 million of work in Athens County in fiscal 2025, about $816 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 Ohio 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 Athens 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 Athens County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Ohio: the state government and every county in Ohio.
Nearby counties: Meigs County (17 mi) · Morgan County (22 mi) · Vinton County (24 mi) · Hocking County (26 mi) · Wood County, WV (29 mi) · Perry County (30 mi).