24,017 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.2% since 2020)
647 square miles of land · 37 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.
7 active community water systems list Nicholas County in the area they serve, reporting 24,710 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WILDERNESS PSD surface water · local government · WV3303405 | 6,106 served |
| SUMMERSVILLE MUNICIPAL WATER surface water · local government · WV3303404 | 5,574 served |
| CRAIGSVILLE PSD surface water · local government · WV3303402 | 4,997 served |
| NETTIE LEIVASY PSD surface water · local government · WV3303403 | 3,630 served |
| RICHWOOD WATER DEPT surface water · local government · WV3303401 | 2,480 served |
| BIRCH RIVER PSD buys surface water · local government · WV3303413 | 1,369 served |
| FENWICK MOUNTAIN PSD buys surface water · private · WV3303406 | 554 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 82 people were held in Nicholas County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 571 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 87.
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 Nicholas County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $53.5 million — $49 million to run schools, about $14,059 per student, plus $3.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.3 million local (mostly property tax), $29 million state, $21 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 Nicholas County about $14.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
96 bridges in Nicholas County: 24 in good condition, 57 fair, and 15 poor (15.6%). “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 55 over MUDDLETY CREEK · built 1929 | 1,700 vehicles a day |
| WV 39 over LINE CREEK · built 1930 | 1,174 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROUTE 12 over GLADE CREEK · built 1978 | 861 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROUTE 1 over BIRCH RIVER · built 1950 | 691 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROUTE 24/7 over ANGLINS CREEK · built 1950 | 550 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROUTE 9 over PETERS CREEK · built 1977 | 300 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $27.4 million of work in Nicholas County in fiscal 2025, about $1,114 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 Nicholas 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 Nicholas County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of West Virginia: the state government and every county in West Virginia.
Nearby counties: Clay County (19 mi) · Webster County (23 mi) · Fayette County (24 mi) · Braxton County (28 mi) · Greenbrier County (32 mi) · Kanawha County (39 mi).