159,285 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.1% since 2020)
772 square miles of land · 206 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.
30 active community water systems list Franklin County in the area they serve, reporting 112,527 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CHAMBERSBURG BORO WATER SYS surface water · local government · PA7280005 | 31,048 served |
| GUILFORD WATER AUTH groundwater · local government · PA7280038 | 28,135 served |
| BORO OF WAYNESBORO surface water · local government · PA7280032 | 13,200 served |
| BEAR VALLEY JOINT AUTH surface water · local government · PA7280043 | 12,589 served |
| WASHINGTON TWP MUNI AUTH groundwater · local government · PA7280026 | 6,134 served |
| GREENCASTLE AREA WATER AUTH surface water · local government · PA7280014 | 5,500 served |
| FRANKLIN SYSTEM YORK WATER surface water · local government · PA7280045 | 4,400 served |
| MERCERSBURG MUNI WATER AUTH surface water · local government · PA7280021 | 2,350 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 244 people were held in Franklin County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 251 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 408.
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 Franklin County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $175.8 million — $146.4 million to run schools, about $15,739 per student, plus $13.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $110.9 million local (mostly property tax), $55.6 million state, $25.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $135.7 million.
Spent $75.2 million — $66.1 million to run schools, about $15,359 per student, plus $3.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $37.7 million local (mostly property tax), $31.7 million state, $12.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $33.8 million.
Spent $71.9 million — $56.7 million to run schools, about $16,080 per student, plus $10.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $37.1 million local (mostly property tax), $23.7 million state, $7.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.3 million.
Spent $45.9 million — $42 million to run schools, about $14,036 per student, plus $652,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $32.3 million local (mostly property tax), $16.4 million state, $2.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $18.2 million.
Spent $42.3 million — $38.6 million to run schools, about $17,069 per student, plus $280,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $25.2 million local (mostly property tax), $18.3 million state, $4.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $21.9 million.
Spent $10.2 million — $8.6 million to run schools, about $22,271 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $4.2 million state, $2.5 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 Franklin County about $37.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
292 bridges in Franklin County: 78 in good condition, 188 fair, and 26 poor (8.9%). “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.
| US 30; Lincoln Hwy over ROCKY MT CREEK · built 1948 | 15,365 vehicles a day |
| US 11; SR 0011 over Norfolk Southern RR · built 1937 | 10,328 vehicles a day |
| FIFTH AVE over FALLING SPRING BRANCH · built 1930 | 6,000 vehicles a day |
| PA 641; Forge Hill over TROUT RUN · built 1980 | 4,513 vehicles a day |
| KENNEDY STREET over FALLING SPRING CREEK · built 1930 | 3,750 vehicles a day |
| WEST KING STREET over FALLING SPRING CREEK · built 1918 | 3,535 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $52.3 million of work in Franklin County in fiscal 2025, about $336 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 Franklin 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 Franklin County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Fulton County (21 mi) · Washington County, MD (23 mi) · Adams County (27 mi) · Cumberland County (29 mi) · Frederick County, MD (36 mi) · Huntingdon County (37 mi).