30,402 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.0% since 2020)
470 square miles of land · 65 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 Hardin County in the area they serve, reporting 18,228 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| KENTON CITY groundwater · local government · OH3300612 | 8,360 served |
| ADA VILLAGE groundwater · local government · OH3300012 | 5,334 served |
| FOREST VILLAGE groundwater · local government · OH3300312 | 1,354 served |
| ALGER VILLAGE PWS groundwater · local government · OH3300112 | 943 served |
| DUNKIRK VILLAGE PWS groundwater · local government · OH3300212 | 875 served |
| MCGUFFEY VILLAGE PWS groundwater · local government · OH3300712 | 710 served |
| MT VICTORY VILLAGE PWS groundwater · local government · OH3300912 | 603 served |
| HILLCREST ESTATES MOBILE HOME COURT groundwater · private · OH3301212 | 49 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 73 people were held in Hardin County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 372 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 62.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Hardin County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $30.3 million — $24.9 million to run schools, about $13,569 per student, plus $3.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13 million local (mostly property tax), $18.2 million state, $3.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $44.8 million.
Spent $12.9 million — $12.1 million to run schools, about $14,146 per student, plus $699,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.2 million local (mostly property tax), $6.5 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $490,000.
Spent $9.1 million — $7.5 million to run schools, about $15,197 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.7 million local (mostly property tax), $4.1 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.7 million.
Spent $9.5 million — $7.8 million to run schools, about $17,181 per student, plus $764,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.2 million local (mostly property tax), $3.9 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $610,000.
Spent $8 million — $7.1 million to run schools, about $18,227 per student, plus $751,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.6 million local (mostly property tax), $3.2 million state, $794,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.5 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 Hardin County about $10.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
277 bridges in Hardin County: 186 in good condition, 76 fair, and 15 poor (5.4%). “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.
| LEIGHTON STREET over SCIOTO RIVER · built 1993 | 1,463 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 209 over PANTHER CREEK · built 1968 | 557 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 167 over BLANCHARD RIVER · built 1932 | 477 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 25 over SCIOTO RIVER · built 1922 | 477 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 70 over BLANCHARD RIVER · built 1900 | 385 vehicles a day |
| TOWNSHIP ROAD 85 over SEARSON DITCH · built 1940 | 324 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $8.8 million of work in Hardin County in fiscal 2025, about $286 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 Hardin 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 Hardin County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Ohio: the state government and every county in Ohio.
Nearby counties: Logan County (20 mi) · Wyandot County (22 mi) · Hancock County (23 mi) · Allen County (24 mi) · Marion County (26 mi) · Union County (30 mi).