Counties in Kentucky by population

Jefferson County had the highest population of 120 counties in 2022, at 778,999. Robertson County had the lowest, at 2,250. The median was 19,695 and the figure for Kentucky was 4.52 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest778,999Jefferson County
Lowest2,250Robertson County
Median19,695120 counties
Kentucky4,521,238History

Top 40 counties, 2022

CSVChart (SVG)

Jefferson CountyJefferson County: 778,999 persons778,999Fayette CountyFayette County: 321,332 persons321,332Kenton CountyKenton County: 170,432 persons170,432Warren CountyWarren County: 140,434 persons140,434Boone CountyBoone County: 139,429 persons139,429Hardin CountyHardin County: 111,764 persons111,764Daviess CountyDaviess County: 103,358 persons103,358Madison CountyMadison County: 95,227 persons95,227Campbell CountyCampbell County: 93,323 persons93,323Bullitt CountyBullitt County: 83,946 persons83,946Christian CountyChristian County: 72,242 persons72,242Oldham CountyOldham County: 69,549 persons69,549McCracken CountyMcCracken County: 67,370 persons67,370Pulaski CountyPulaski County: 65,787 persons65,787Laurel CountyLaurel County: 62,905 persons62,905Scott CountyScott County: 59,478 persons59,478Pike CountyPike County: 56,378 persons56,378Jessamine CountyJessamine County: 54,336 persons54,336Franklin CountyFranklin County: 51,807 persons51,807Shelby CountyShelby County: 48,929 persons48,929Boyd CountyBoyd County: 48,062 persons48,062Nelson CountyNelson County: 47,430 persons47,430Hopkins CountyHopkins County: 44,882 persons44,882Barren CountyBarren County: 44,854 persons44,854Henderson CountyHenderson County: 44,050 persons44,050Calloway CountyCalloway County: 38,119 persons38,119Clark CountyClark County: 37,012 persons37,012Whitley CountyWhitley County: 36,953 persons36,953Graves CountyGraves County: 36,546 persons36,546Floyd CountyFloyd County: 35,518 persons35,518Greenup CountyGreenup County: 35,372 persons35,372Marshall CountyMarshall County: 31,765 persons31,765Boyle CountyBoyle County: 30,845 persons30,845Muhlenberg CountyMuhlenberg County: 30,693 persons30,693Meade CountyMeade County: 30,048 persons30,048Knox CountyKnox County: 29,721 persons29,721Montgomery CountyMontgomery County: 28,351 persons28,351Logan CountyLogan County: 27,866 persons27,866Perry CountyPerry County: 27,366 persons27,366Woodford CountyWoodford County: 27,162 persons27,162
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

RankCounties2022
persons
Change on 2021
1Jefferson County778,999+0.2%
2Fayette County321,332+0.3%
3Kenton County170,432+0.5%
4Warren County140,434+2.4%
5Boone County139,429+1.2%
6Hardin County111,764-0.1%
7Daviess County103,358+0.2%
8Madison County95,227+1.9%
9Campbell County93,323+0.5%
10Bullitt County83,946+1%
11Christian County72,242-1.3%
12Oldham County69,549+1.8%
13McCracken County67,370-0.3%
14Pulaski County65,787+0.4%
15Laurel County62,905+0.5%
16Scott County59,478+1.7%
17Pike County56,378-1.9%
18Jessamine County54,336+1.3%
19Franklin County51,8070%
20Shelby County48,929+0.7%
21Boyd County48,062+0.6%
22Nelson County47,430+0.6%
23Hopkins County44,882-0.6%
24Barren County44,854+0.6%
25Henderson County44,050-0.8%
26Calloway County38,119+0.6%
27Clark County37,012+0.4%
28Whitley County36,953+0.4%
29Graves County36,546-0.4%
30Floyd County35,518+0.6%
31Greenup County35,372-0.8%
32Marshall County31,765-0.1%
33Boyle County30,845+0.8%
34Muhlenberg County30,693+1.2%
35Meade County30,048-0.3%
36Knox County29,721-1%
37Montgomery County28,351+0.4%
38Logan County27,866+0.2%
39Perry County27,366-2%
40Woodford County27,162+0.3%
41Grayson County26,632+0.2%
42Taylor County26,445+0.9%
43Carter County26,307-0.5%
44Harlan County25,603-2.1%
45Grant County25,473+0.7%
46Rowan County24,414-0.6%
47Lincoln County24,392+0.6%
48Anderson County24,298+0.8%
49Ohio County23,556-0.7%
50Bell County23,527-1.1%
51Mercer County22,935+0.3%
52Johnson County22,222-1.5%
53Allen County21,249+2%
54Breckinridge County20,932+1.3%
55Letcher County20,796-2%
56Spencer County20,191+1.6%
57Bourbon County20,153-0.5%
58Simpson County19,930+1%
59Clay County19,882-1.4%
60Marion County19,7200%
61Wayne County19,669+0.6%
62Hart County19,585+0.6%
63Adair County19,082+0.8%
64Harrison County19,072+0.6%
65Russell County18,1670%
66Garrard County17,577+1.2%
67Mason County16,871-0.5%
68McCreary County16,803-0%
69Rockcastle County16,204+0.4%
70Lawrence County16,052-1.3%
71Casey County15,900-0.2%
72Henry County15,726+0.1%
73Fleming County15,240-0.1%
74Larue County15,163+0.9%
75Pendleton County14,673+0.3%
76Trigg County14,331+0.8%
77Morgan County14,166+3.5%
78Estill County13,985-0.7%
79Knott County13,844-1.4%
80Breathitt County13,338-1.6%
81Union County13,126-1%
82Powell County13,061-0.2%
83Jackson County12,990+0.1%
84Lewis County12,917-0.5%
85Bath County12,818+0.1%
86Webster County12,728-1%
87Caldwell County12,618-0.6%
88Todd County12,426+1%
89Butler County12,383+0.6%
90Edmonson County12,297+0.5%
91Washington County12,067-0.1%
92Green County11,363+0.4%
93Magoffin County11,321-1.5%
94Monroe County11,315+0.5%
95Owen County11,294-0.1%
96Martin County11,101-0.6%
97Carroll County10,937+0.4%
98Metcalfe County10,3970%
99Leslie County10,045-2.3%
100Clinton County9,140-1.6%
101McLean County9,108-0.1%
102Lyon County9,100+8%
103Hancock County9,042-0.4%
104Crittenden County8,973+0.3%
105Livingston County8,958-0.2%
106Gallatin County8,777+0.4%
107Trimble County8,521-0.4%
108Bracken County8,425-0.2%
109Nicholas County7,767+0.5%
110Ballard County7,629-0.8%
111Elliott County7,299-0.9%
112Lee County7,258-2.7%
113Wolfe County6,415-1.4%
114Fulton County6,389-1.5%
115Menifee County6,216+0.7%
116Cumberland County5,945+0.7%
117Carlisle County4,723-0.8%
118Hickman County4,413-0.3%
119Owsley County3,941-0.8%
120Robertson County2,250-0.3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (PadrĂ³n). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

For Denmark, Statistics Denmark counts the registered resident population on 1 January. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are excluded. The annual series selects the first-quarter reference date from FOLK1A. 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 counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Kentucky by population using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"population","level":"province","within":"Kentucky","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=population&level=province&within=Kentucky&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest population?

Jefferson County, with 778,999 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest population?

Robertson County, with 2,250 in 2022.

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 the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Population: other rankings

Counties in Kentucky: more rankings