37,589 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.3% since 2020)
506 square miles of land · 74 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.
8 active community water systems list Wayne County in the area they serve, reporting 33,100 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| KENOVA MUNICIPAL WATER surface water · local government · WV3305009 | 11,192 served |
| LAVALETTE PSD buys surface water · local government · WV3305006 | 7,455 served |
| WAYNE WATER TOWN OF surface water · local government · WV3305007 | 5,519 served |
| CRUM PSD buys surface water · local government · WV3305010 | 3,463 served |
| FORT GAY WATER WORKS surface water · local government · WV3305004 | 1,600 served |
| CEREDO WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · WV3305001 | 1,472 served |
| LAVALETTE PSD - EASTERN DISTRICT buys surface water · private · WV3305012 | 1,220 served |
| LAVALETTE PSD-ROUTE 52 NORTH DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · WV3305011 | 1,179 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 88 people were held in Wayne County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 384 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 118.
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 Wayne County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $95.7 million — $90.1 million to run schools, about $14,446 per student, plus $5.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $24.4 million local (mostly property tax), $51.1 million state, $15.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.9 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 Wayne County about $30.9 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.
162 bridges in Wayne County: 46 in good condition, 94 fair, and 22 poor (13.6%). “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.
| I 64 WB over US 52 AND WV 75 · built 1962 | 18,900 vehicles a day |
| I 64 EB over US 52 AND WV 75 · built 1962 | 16,400 vehicles a day |
| WEST VIRGINIA 152 over BEECH FORK TWELVEPOLE CK · built 2010 | 11,700 vehicles a day |
| WV 152 over TWELVEPOLE CREEK · built 1971 | 6,800 vehicles a day |
| WV 152 over TRACE FORK · built 1939 | 2,400 vehicles a day |
| CR 17 over LEFT FK OF WILSON CREEK · built 1936 | 1,800 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $57 million of work in Wayne County in fiscal 2025, about $1,461 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 Wayne 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 Wayne County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of West Virginia: the state government and every county in West Virginia.
Nearby counties: Lawrence County, KY (18 mi) · Lincoln County (19 mi) · Boyd County, KY (20 mi) · Cabell County (21 mi) · Martin County, KY (24 mi) · Johnson County, KY (30 mi).