28,054 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.4% since 2020)
83 square miles of land · 340 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 Hancock County in the area they serve, reporting 13,621 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| TOMLINSON PSD-NEWELL groundwater · private · WV3301516 | 4,963 served |
| CHESTER WATER DEPT. surface water · local government · WV3301504 | 3,088 served |
| TOMLINSON PSD buys groundwater · local government · WV3301519 | 2,079 served |
| OAKLAND PSD groundwater · local government · WV3301517 | 1,659 served |
| NEW CUMBERLAND, CITY OF groundwater · local government · WV3301515 | 1,326 served |
| OAKLAND PSD GOLDEN KEY ACRES buys surface water · local government · WV3301525 | 506 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 69 people were held in Hancock County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 407 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 68.
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 Hancock County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $56.8 million — $52 million to run schools, about $14,884 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $20.5 million local (mostly property tax), $27.3 million state, $6.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $26.8 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 Hancock County about $11.8 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.
29 bridges in Hancock County: 5 in good condition, 15 fair, and 9 poor (31.0%). “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.
| West Virginia 2 over Frontier Group of Co.Inc · built 1966 | 8,500 vehicles a day |
| GOLDING STREET EXT over Ohio River · built 1905 | 7,500 vehicles a day |
| West Virginia 8 over North Fork Tomlinson Run · built 1926 | 2,800 vehicles a day |
| County Route 11 over Kings Creek · built 1950 | 1,700 vehicles a day |
| County Route 3 over Tomlinson Run · built 1947 | 1,100 vehicles a day |
| P&F Route 801 over Tomlinson Run · built 1952 | 550 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $168 million of work in Hancock County in fiscal 2025, about $5,775 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 West Virginia 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 Hancock 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 Hancock County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of West Virginia: the state government and every county in West Virginia.
Nearby counties: Jefferson County, OH (13 mi) · Beaver County, PA (16 mi) · Brooke County (17 mi) · Columbiana County, OH (21 mi) · Washington County, PA (28 mi) · Carroll County, OH (28 mi).