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I'm very confused about the role of「の方」in「(あなたは) 何県の方ですか」. Based on what I know,「の方」can either refer to a person or makes the noun「県」more polite.
If I interpret「の方」as a person, the question would mean "What prefecture person you are?" I'm not sure if it makes sense in this context.
If it's a politeness marker, I think the whole question makes sense because it would literally mean "What's your prefecture?"
Which of the two interpretations of「の方」is correct?
This 方【かた】 is an honorific version of 人. If you don't mind sounding a little blunt, 何県の人ですか means the same thing. (の)方 as a polite (or "euphemistic") filler is always read (の)ほう (example), and it has nothing to do with this sentence.
X県の人 means "person from X Prefecture" or "person living in X Prefecture". Thus, a literal translation of this would be "A person from what prefecture are you?" or "What prefecture's person are you?". I know these are not natural, but I don't think it's completely nonsensical, either (correct me if I'm wrong).
何県の方 means 何県出身の方. It means "What prefecture are you from?". ～の方{かた} is used when we make the people who belong to something such as occupations and countries polite. For example. 警察の方、アメリカの方 and so on.
