Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Kentucky

Cities in Kentucky by population

Louisville, KY had the highest population of 42 cities in 2024, at 641,189. Paris, KY had the lowest, at 10,185. The median was 19,143 and the figure for Kentucky was 4.58 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest641,189Louisville, KY
Lowest10,185Paris, KY
Median19,14342 cities
Kentucky4,584,046History

All cities, 2024

Louisville, KY: 641,189 personsLouisville, KY641,189Lexington, KY: 327,071 personsLexington, KY327,071Bowling Green, KY: 78,384 personsBowling Green, KY78,384Owensboro, KY: 60,577 personsOwensboro, KY60,577Covington, KY: 41,645 personsCovington, KY41,645Georgetown, KY: 40,548 personsGeorgetown, KY40,548Richmond, KY: 39,593 personsRichmond, KY39,593Elizabethtown, KY: 34,491 personsElizabethtown, KY34,491Florence, KY: 33,617 personsFlorence, KY33,617Nicholasville, KY: 33,323 personsNicholasville, KY33,323Hopkinsville, KY: 30,861 personsHopkinsville, KY30,861Independence, KY: 30,052 personsIndependence, KY30,052Jeffersontown, KY: 29,320 personsJeffersontown, KY29,320Frankfort, KY: 28,648 personsFrankfort, KY28,648Henderson, KY: 27,854 personsHenderson, KY27,854Paducah, KY: 26,804 personsPaducah, KY26,804Radcliff, KY: 22,641 personsRadcliff, KY22,641Ashland, KY: 21,154 personsAshland, KY21,154Erlanger, KY: 20,103 personsErlanger, KY20,103Madisonville, KY: 19,438 personsMadisonville, KY19,438Winchester, KY: 19,428 personsWinchester, KY19,428Mount Washington, KY: 18,857 personsMount Washington, KY18,857Murray, KY: 18,531 personsMurray, KY18,531Shelbyville, KY: 18,187 personsShelbyville, KY18,187St. Matthews, KY: 17,812 personsSt. Matthews, KY17,812Danville, KY: 17,508 personsDanville, KY17,508Fort Thomas, KY: 16,971 personsFort Thomas, KY16,971Berea, KY: 16,418 personsBerea, KY16,418Shively, KY: 15,847 personsShively, KY15,847Glasgow, KY: 15,339 personsGlasgow, KY15,339Shepherdsville, KY: 14,810 personsShepherdsville, KY14,810Bardstown, KY: 14,051 personsBardstown, KY14,051Newport, KY: 13,845 personsNewport, KY13,845Somerset, KY: 12,467 personsSomerset, KY12,467Lawrenceburg, KY: 12,230 personsLawrenceburg, KY12,230Campbellsville, KY: 11,826 personsCampbellsville, KY11,826Lyndon, KY: 11,261 personsLyndon, KY11,261Alexandria, KY: 10,799 personsAlexandria, KY10,799Versailles, KY: 10,658 personsVersailles, KY10,658La Grange, KY: 10,578 personsLa Grange, KY10,578Franklin, KY: 10,571 personsFranklin, KY10,571Paris, KY: 10,185 personsParis, KY10,185Louisville, KY: 641,189 personsLouisville, KY641,189Lexington, KY: 327,071 personsLexington, KY327,071Bowling Green, KY: 78,384 personsBowling Green, KY78,384Owensboro, KY: 60,577 personsOwensboro, KY60,577Covington, KY: 41,645 personsCovington, KY41,645Georgetown, KY: 40,548 personsGeorgetown, KY40,548Richmond, KY: 39,593 personsRichmond, KY39,593Elizabethtown, KY: 34,491 personsElizabethtown, KY34,491Florence, KY: 33,617 personsFlorence, KY33,617Nicholasville, KY: 33,323 personsNicholasville, KY33,323Hopkinsville, KY: 30,861 personsHopkinsville, KY30,861Independence, KY: 30,052 personsIndependence, KY30,052Jeffersontown, KY: 29,320 personsJeffersontown, KY29,320Frankfort, KY: 28,648 personsFrankfort, KY28,648Henderson, KY: 27,854 personsHenderson, KY27,854Paducah, KY: 26,804 personsPaducah, KY26,804Radcliff, KY: 22,641 personsRadcliff, KY22,641Ashland, KY: 21,154 personsAshland, KY21,154Erlanger, KY: 20,103 personsErlanger, KY20,103Madisonville, KY: 19,438 personsMadisonville, KY19,438Winchester, KY: 19,428 personsWinchester, KY19,428Mount Washington, KY: 18,857 personsMount Washington, KY18,857Murray, KY: 18,531 personsMurray, KY18,531Shelbyville, KY: 18,187 personsShelbyville, KY18,187St. Matthews, KY: 17,812 personsSt. Matthews, KY17,812Danville, KY: 17,508 personsDanville, KY17,508Fort Thomas, KY: 16,971 personsFort Thomas, KY16,971Berea, KY: 16,418 personsBerea, KY16,418Shively, KY: 15,847 personsShively, KY15,847Glasgow, KY: 15,339 personsGlasgow, KY15,339Shepherdsville, KY: 14,810 personsShepherdsville, KY14,810Bardstown, KY: 14,051 personsBardstown, KY14,051Newport, KY: 13,845 personsNewport, KY13,845Somerset, KY: 12,467 personsSomerset, KY12,467Lawrenceburg, KY: 12,230 personsLawrenceburg, KY12,230Campbellsville, KY: 11,826 personsCampbellsville, KY11,826Lyndon, KY: 11,261 personsLyndon, KY11,261Alexandria, KY: 10,799 personsAlexandria, KY10,799Versailles, KY: 10,658 personsVersailles, KY10,658La Grange, KY: 10,578 personsLa Grange, KY10,578Franklin, KY: 10,571 personsFranklin, KY10,571Paris, KY: 10,185 personsParis, KY10,185
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2024
persons		Change on 2023
1Louisville, KY641,189+1.2%
2Lexington, KY327,071+1.1%
3Bowling Green, KY78,384+2.2%
4Owensboro, KY60,577+0.4%
5Covington, KY41,645+0.9%
6Georgetown, KY40,548+1.6%
7Richmond, KY39,593+2.8%
8Elizabethtown, KY34,491+4.4%
9Florence, KY33,617+1.4%
10Nicholasville, KY33,323+2%
11Hopkinsville, KY30,861-0%
12Independence, KY30,052+1.5%
13Jeffersontown, KY29,320+0.5%
14Frankfort, KY28,648+0.7%
15Henderson, KY27,854+0.2%
16Paducah, KY26,804-0%
17Radcliff, KY22,641-0.3%
18Ashland, KY21,154-0.1%
19Erlanger, KY20,103+1%
20Madisonville, KY19,438-0.2%
21Winchester, KY19,428+0.8%
22Mount Washington, KY18,857+0.9%
23Murray, KY18,531+1.7%
24Shelbyville, KY18,187+1.7%
25St. Matthews, KY17,812+1.1%
26Danville, KY17,508+0.5%
27Fort Thomas, KY16,971-0.3%
28Berea, KY16,418+2.6%
29Shively, KY15,847+1.4%
30Glasgow, KY15,339+0.3%
31Shepherdsville, KY14,810+0.9%
32Bardstown, KY14,051+1.4%
33Newport, KY13,845-0.2%
34Somerset, KY12,467+1.1%
35Lawrenceburg, KY12,230+1%
36Campbellsville, KY11,826+0.8%
37Lyndon, KY11,261+1.3%
38Alexandria, KY10,799+1.1%
39Versailles, KY10,658+0.6%
40La Grange, KY10,578+1.1%
41Franklin, KY10,571+0.7%
42Paris, KY10,185+0.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population.

More on how it is measured
  • Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón).
  • Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January.
  • Iceland and its municipalities: Statistics Iceland, 1 January.
  • United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July.
  • United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June.
  • Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
  • UN World Population Prospects estimates for 1 July cover the years before 1960 and the areas the World Bank does not publish, such as Taiwan.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in Kentucky by population, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Kentucky by population, 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kentucky-cities?period=2024. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in Kentucky by population, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kentucky-cities?period=2024.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Kentucky by population, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kentucky-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_kentucky_by_2024,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Kentucky by population, 2024}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kentucky-cities?period=2024. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Kentucky by population, 2024
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kentucky-cities?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kentucky-cities?period=2024.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Louisville, KY, with 641,189 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Paris, KY, with 10,185 in 2024.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings

Cities in Kentucky: more rankings