19,377 people (2024 Census estimate, −4.9% since 2020)
437 square miles of land · 44 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.
5 active community water systems list Lincoln County in the area they serve, reporting 11,940 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LINCOLN PSD surface water · local government · WV3302205 | 3,981 served |
| BRANCHLAND MIDKIFF PSD buys surface water · local government · WV3302202 | 3,077 served |
| WEST HAMLIN, CITY OF surface water · local government · WV3302203 | 2,465 served |
| LINCOLN PSD - ROUTE 3 buys surface water · private · WV3302207 | 2,226 served |
| LINCOLN PSD - LOWER MUD RIVER buys surface water · private · WV3302208 | 191 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 46 people were held in Lincoln County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 384 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 62.
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 Lincoln County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $47.5 million — $43.7 million to run schools, about $14,841 per student, plus $3.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.2 million local (mostly property tax), $28.2 million state, $11.7 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 Lincoln County about $15.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
118 bridges in Lincoln County: 47 in good condition, 54 fair, and 17 poor (14.4%). “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.
| WV 3 over BEAR FORK · built 1940 | 2,100 vehicles a day |
| WV 3 over VALLEY FORK · built 1970 | 2,000 vehicles a day |
| WV 34 over BIG CREEK · built 1965 | 1,500 vehicles a day |
| CO 11 over FOURMILE CREEK · built 1976 | 550 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROUTE 3/10 over HORSE CREEK · built 2005 | 500 vehicles a day |
| CR 7 over SHOALS BRANCH · built 1965 | 400 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $8.1 million of work in Lincoln County in fiscal 2025, about $397 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of West Virginia: the state government and every county in West Virginia.
Nearby counties: Wayne County (19 mi) · Cabell County (19 mi) · Boone County (22 mi) · Logan County (25 mi) · Putnam County (25 mi) · Mingo County (31 mi).