34,055 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.4% since 2020)
649 square miles of land · 52 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.
13 active community water systems list Preston County in the area they serve, reporting 29,400 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PRESTON COUNTY PSD 4 groundwater · local government · WV3303923 | 8,753 served |
| KINGWOOD WATER BOARD surface water · local government · WV3303908 | 7,674 served |
| PRESTON COUNTY PSD 1 surface water · local government · WV3303912 | 3,455 served |
| MASONTOWN WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · WV3303909 | 2,239 served |
| TERRA ALTA WATER WORKS groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · WV3303917 | 1,856 served |
| TUNNELTON TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · WV3303918 | 1,346 served |
| ALPINE LAKE PUBLIC UTILITIES groundwater · local government · WV3303921 | 1,325 served |
| NEWBURG TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · WV3303920 | 1,133 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 108 people were held in Preston County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 491 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 136.
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 Preston County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $54.7 million — $52.4 million to run schools, about $12,810 per student, plus $2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19.9 million local (mostly property tax), $32.5 million state, $9.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $13.5 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 Preston County about $9.1 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.
182 bridges in Preston County: 61 in good condition, 81 fair, and 40 poor (22.0%). “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.
| INTERSTATE 68 WB over Laurel Run & Co Rt 73/5 · built 1970 | 6,550 vehicles a day |
| INTERSTATE 68 EB over Laurel Run & Co Rt 73/5 · built 1970 | 6,550 vehicles a day |
| WV ROUTE 7 over RAVINE · built 1926 | 5,700 vehicles a day |
| PRESTON CO RT 29 over BOYD RUN · built 1937 | 4,100 vehicles a day |
| WV 26 over Morgan Run · built 1936 | 3,500 vehicles a day |
| WV ROUTE 26 over ROARING CREEK · built 1919 | 2,900 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $12.4 million of work in Preston County in fiscal 2025, about $363 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 Preston 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 Preston County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of West Virginia: the state government and every county in West Virginia.
Nearby counties: Garrett County, MD (22 mi) · Taylor County (22 mi) · Monongalia County (24 mi) · Tucker County (25 mi) · Barbour County (29 mi) · Marion County (31 mi).