I think it really all depends on where you're at that determines whether the county or prison is easier. Me and the homie went to Jackson State to visit one of his uncles back inna day. Mans was pretty chill, said a lot of muhfuckas in there just wanted to get done with their sentences so they can get back to the real world. Lil politicking and shit, but nothing really major. Contrast this with one of my neighbors in that hood spot in Vegas who had just come home after doing 10 years. Dude was locked up at High Desert just outside of Vegas and he was like that shit was treacherous, and it wasn't just the inmates; the staff was always looking for an excuse to fuck niggas up.
Same for county: I heard horror stories about Towers jail in Phoenix from cats in the hip hop community that either did a stint in there or knew folks that did. Same for Tent City, it was pretty violent on the men's side. CCDC in Las Vegas, however, didn't really have a rep for being overly violent, probably because a lot of cats that wind up there came to Vegas on vacation and really ain't about that life.