30,124 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.6% since 2020)
827 square miles of land · 36 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 Elk County in the area they serve, reporting 30,717 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ST MARYS AREA WATER AUTH surface water · local government · PA6240016 | 19,588 served |
| RIDGWAY BOROUGH WATER SYSTEM surface water · local government · PA6240012 | 4,700 served |
| JOHNSONBURG MUNICIPAL AUTH surface water · local government · PA6240007 | 2,413 served |
| RIDGWAY TWP WATER AUTH buys surface water · local government · PA6240022 | 1,763 served |
| JAY TWP WATER AUTHORITY surface water · local government · PA6240005 | 1,131 served |
| TOBY WATER buys surface water · local government · PA6240008 | 440 served |
| JONES TWP MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY groundwater · local government · PA6240020 | 396 served |
| HIGHLAND TWP MUNICIPAL AUTH groundwater · local government · PA6240006 | 286 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 51 people were held in Elk County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 282 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 67.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Elk County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $33.9 million — $32.5 million to run schools, about $17,427 per student, plus $738,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.2 million local (mostly property tax), $13.8 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $5 million.
Spent $23.1 million — $15 million to run schools, about $19,330 per student, plus $7.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.3 million local (mostly property tax), $9.4 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $8.9 million.
Spent $13.2 million — $10.9 million to run schools, about $19,972 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $8.5 million state, $1.4 million 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 Elk County about $15.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
126 bridges in Elk County: 51 in good condition, 62 fair, and 13 poor (10.3%). “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.
| SR 948-PA 948 over LITTLE MILL CREEK · built 1951 | 1,276 vehicles a day |
| T-557 TEABERRY RD. over IRON RUN · built 1980 | 395 vehicles a day |
| T-301 (RIVER ROAD) over CLINE RUN · built 1940 | 300 vehicles a day |
| T347 MOHAN RUN RD over MOHAN RUN · built 1974 | 200 vehicles a day |
| SR 1005 over MILL POND · built 1928 | 161 vehicles a day |
| T-423 BURKE ROAD over SPRING RUN · built 1930 | 130 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $7.5 million of work in Elk County in fiscal 2025, about $242 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 Pennsylvania 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 Elk 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 Elk County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Cameron County (24 mi) · McKean County (27 mi) · Jefferson County (27 mi) · Clearfield County (30 mi) · Forest County (31 mi) · Clarion County (43 mi).