27,718 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.0% since 2020)
464 square miles of land · 60 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 Jackson County in the area they serve, reporting 22,443 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SOUTHERN JACKSON COUNTY P S D buys surface water · local government · WV3301817 | 6,070 served |
| RIPLEY CITY OF surface water · local government · WV3301811 | 5,420 served |
| RAVENSWOOD MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · WV3301810 | 5,047 served |
| COTTAGEVILLE PSD groundwater · local government · WV3301804 | 3,230 served |
| NORTHERN JACKSON COUNTY PSD buys groundwater · local government · WV3301814 | 2,506 served |
| SOUTHERN JACKSON COUNTY PSD ROUTE 33 buys surface water · local government · WV3301819 | 170 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 68 people were held in Jackson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 402 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 77.
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 Jackson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $66 million — $58.8 million to run schools, about $14,226 per student, plus $6.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $24.7 million local (mostly property tax), $29.7 million state, $15.7 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 Jackson County about $15.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
190 bridges in Jackson County: 71 in good condition, 74 fair, and 45 poor (23.7%). “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 68 over SANDY CREEK · built 1954 | 7,500 vehicles a day |
| I-77 NBL over SANDY CREEK · built 1967 | 7,000 vehicles a day |
| I-77 SBL over SANDY CREEK · built 1967 | 7,000 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROUTE 21 over SYCAMORE CREEK · built 1925 | 6,500 vehicles a day |
| CR 21 over MILL CREEK · built 1949 | 6,200 vehicles a day |
| WV 68 over LITTLE SANDY CREEK · built 1948 | 2,400 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $87.2 million of work in Jackson County in fiscal 2025, about $3,138 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 Jackson 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 Jackson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of West Virginia: the state government and every county in West Virginia.
Nearby counties: Roane County (18 mi) · Mason County (19 mi) · Wirt County (20 mi) · Putnam County (25 mi) · Meigs County, OH (26 mi) · Wood County (27 mi).