8,602 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.0% since 2020)
86 square miles of land · 100 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 Mathews County in the area they serve, reporting 432 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CHESAPEAKE SHORES groundwater · private · VA4115400 | 103 served |
| CRICKET HILL APARTMENTS groundwater · private · VA4115455 | 88 served |
| COBBS SHORES groundwater · private · VA4115450 | 83 served |
| RIVERSIDE CONVALESCENT CENTER groundwater · private · VA4115740 | 55 served |
| NORTH RIVER PARK groundwater · private · VA4115705 | 53 served |
| GWYNNS ISLAND CONDO groundwater · private · VA4115350 | 50 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 37 people were held in Mathews County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 784 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 36.
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 Mathews County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $18.5 million — $17.8 million to run schools, about $19,565 per student, plus $489,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.3 million local (mostly property tax), $7.1 million state, $1.9 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Mathews County about $4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
6 bridges in Mathews County: 0 in good condition, 4 fair, and 2 poor (33.3%). “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.
| WBL over BURKE MILL STREAM · built 1948 | 13,944 vehicles a day |
| JOHN CLAYTON MEM. over NORTH END BRANCH · built 1949 | 6,559 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $4.6 million of work in Mathews County in fiscal 2025, about $535 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. Early voting: 2026-09-18 to 2026-10-31. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-23. Mail ballot request deadline: 2026-10-23. Election Day: 2026-11-03.
Source: Virginia Department of Elections: upcoming elections · Virginia Department of Elections: voter FAQ · Virginia Department of Elections: absentee voting
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Mathews 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 Mathews County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Virginia: the state government and every county in Virginia.
Nearby counties: Gloucester County (14 mi) · York County (16 mi) · Middlesex County (19 mi) · Poquoson city (21 mi) · Northampton County (21 mi) · Lancaster County (21 mi).