13,540 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.2% since 2020)
484 square miles of land · 28 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.
4 active community water systems list Roane County in the area they serve, reporting 8,294 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SPENCER WATER DEPT surface water · local government · WV3304405 | 4,630 served |
| WALTON PSD surface water · local government · WV3304407 | 2,208 served |
| CLOVER PSD buys surface water · local government · WV3304409 | 976 served |
| REEDY WATER SERVICE TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · WV3304408 | 480 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 47 people were held in Roane County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 571 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 51.
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 Roane County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $35.8 million — $24.8 million to run schools, about $13,833 per student, plus $10.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.8 million local (mostly property tax), $23.2 million state, $5 million federal. Long-term debt: $8.2 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Roane County about $9.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
131 bridges in Roane County: 59 in good condition, 46 fair, and 26 poor (19.8%). “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.
| I-79 NORTH over COOKMAN FORK OF SANDY CK · built 1972 | 7,000 vehicles a day |
| I-79 SBL over BIG SANDY CREEK/ C.R. 29 · built 1972 | 5,800 vehicles a day |
| I-79 NBL over CR 29 & Big Sandy Creek · built 1972 | 3,500 vehicles a day |
| I-79 SBL over CR 29 · built 1972 | 3,500 vehicles a day |
| I-79 SBL over Big Sandy Ck. & CR 29 · built 1972 | 3,500 vehicles a day |
| US 119 over HURRICANE CREEK · built 1918 | 1,700 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $53.6 million of work in Roane County in fiscal 2025, about $3,819 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 Roane 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 Roane County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of West Virginia: the state government and every county in West Virginia.
Nearby counties: Calhoun County (15 mi) · Jackson County (19 mi) · Wirt County (19 mi) · Clay County (24 mi) · Gilmer County (30 mi) · Kanawha County (30 mi).