State profile · KY

Largest Cities in Kentucky

Name: Kentucky Cities: Population, Income & Housing Data
Creator: PlainCities
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Ranked by resident population across 520 tracked cities and towns in Kentucky, using Census ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023). This compares cities and Census-designated places, not metropolitan areas, and carries the same rows into the chart, table, and downloadable CSV below.

Compiled by PlainCities

520
Cities: 2.7M
Combined city pop.: $66,474
Avg median income: 14.3%
Avg poverty rate

Data updated August 2026

The headline finding

Louisville/Jefferson County is the largest of 520 tracked cities in Kentucky, which ranks #31 of 52 nationally on avg median income.

Louisville/Jefferson County
largest tracked city (627,210 people): #31
national rank, avg median income: 520
cities tracked in this state

Every figure here is read live from the same table rendered below.

91% of Kentucky's 520 tracked cities are small towns under 10,000 people -- none crosses the 1-million-resident mark.

<10K

475
10K-99K

43
100K-999K

2

What this shows Small towns under 10,000 residents are the largest group in PlainCities' Kentucky coverage, with 475 of 520 tracked places. This is a count of profiled places, not a share of the state's population.

How we calculate this mix & the national home-value percentile below

Every tracked city in Kentucky is bucketed by population: small town under 10,000; mid-size 10,000–99,999; large 100,000–999,999; megacity 1,000,000+. The national home-value comparison below plots Kentucky's average tracked-city home value against all 52 US states/territories, ranked the same way as the per-city percentiles: the state's percentile is the share of states with a lower average home value. See the methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.

Louisville/Jefferson County

627,210
Lexington-Fayette

321,122
Bowling Green

73,638
Owensboro

60,112
Covington

40,902
Georgetown

38,206
Richmond

35,498
Florence

32,334
Elizabethtown

31,870
Nicholasville

31,625
Hopkinsville

31,011
Independence

29,024

What this shows Louisville/Jefferson County, KY is the most populous city profiled in Kentucky; the top 100 rows are listed below and the complete 520-row record is available as a CSV.

How Kentucky ranks nationally

Avg median income

$66,474

#31 of 52 · highest income

Avg home value

$183,831

#35 of 52 · highest values

Avg poverty rate

14.3%

#42 of 52 · lowest poverty

Tracked cities

520

#23 of 52 · most tracked cities

Kentucky ranks #31 of 52 nationally on average median income and #42 of 52 on average poverty rate, derived live by comparing it against every other tracked state. Averages are computed only across the cities PlainCities tracks in each state, not full state populations.

How Kentucky's home values compare nationally

Average tracked-city home value vs. all 52 US states/territories

$183,831 Among the most affordable more affordable than 67% of 52 US states

Show national distribution

Each bar is a $50K-wide band; taller bars hold more US states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Largest cities in Kentucky

Showing the 100 most-populous tracked places, ordered by population. Download the CSV for every one of the 520 city records and their source-backed fields.

#	City	Population	Median Income	Home Value	Poverty
1	Louisville/Jefferson County	627,210	$64,731	$221,500	11.9%
2	Lexington-Fayette	321,122	$67,631	$272,100	9.4%
3	Bowling Green	73,638	$48,419	$232,100	17.2%
4	Owensboro	60,112	$53,295	$162,900	16.4%
5	Covington	40,902	$58,814	$167,900	15.6%
6	Georgetown	38,206	$78,373	$244,200	9.7%
7	Richmond	35,498	$48,223	$205,900	18.8%
8	Florence	32,334	$68,508	$196,200	6.2%
9	Elizabethtown	31,870	$56,250	$223,200	10.6%
10	Nicholasville	31,625	$67,514	$210,700	10.5%
11	Hopkinsville	31,011	$47,428	$140,200	13.8%
12	Independence	29,024	$98,653	$240,500	5.4%
13	Jeffersontown	28,988	$78,185	$236,800	4.7%
14	Frankfort	28,452	$54,438	$171,600	15.8%
15	Henderson	27,994	$47,176	$151,400	17.9%
16	Paducah	26,894	$51,243	$164,600	16.9%
17	Radcliff	22,967	$60,976	$163,300	9.7%
18	Ashland	21,405	$52,199	$125,300	14.7%
19	Erlanger	19,677	$78,420	$189,400	6.7%
20	Madisonville	19,442	$56,902	$152,300	14.8%
21	Winchester	19,133	$57,653	$180,400	9.7%
22	Mount Washington	18,228	$93,852	$253,700	2.5%
23	Burlington	18,090	$101,550	$229,700	2.4%
24	Murray	17,888	$40,348	$193,300	16.4%
25	St. Matthews	17,491	$80,716	$325,700	5.8%
26	Shelbyville	17,436	$73,733	$238,600	8.7%
27	Fort Thomas	17,242	$100,819	$301,400	2.7%
28	Danville	17,235	$53,370	$202,200	10.8%
29	Berea	15,557	$56,484	$178,000	17.1%
30	Shively	15,556	$46,522	$139,200	13.6%
31	Glasgow	15,141	$42,417	$147,700	19.5%
32	Shepherdsville	14,351	$71,250	$202,300	15.0%
33	Newport	14,039	$58,422	$221,100	8.8%
34	Bardstown	13,673	$49,781	$190,800	8.6%
35	Somerset	12,108	$32,910	$140,900	26.5%
36	Lawrenceburg	11,838	$63,690	$185,400	9.4%
37	Campbellsville	11,523	$49,389	$162,900	13.7%
38	Fort Campbell North	11,483	$58,403	N/A	11.4%
39	Lyndon	10,956	$65,392	$273,300	7.0%
40	Alexandria	10,430	$103,750	$253,400	5.4%
41	Versailles	10,382	$58,834	$257,600	9.6%
42	Francisville	10,313	$146,280	$374,100	1.2%
43	Franklin	10,254	$55,552	$170,400	11.0%
44	La Grange	10,188	$86,222	$268,000	5.2%
45	Paris	10,107	$49,464	$182,100	13.5%
46	Mayfield	9,905	$41,458	$114,400	24.6%
47	Middletown	9,622	$74,129	$298,900	11.2%
48	Oakbrook	9,459	$90,147	$250,900	0.6%
49	Middlesborough	9,258	$34,349	$88,700	22.3%
50	Elsmere	9,151	$61,427	$157,200	8.1%
51	Harrodsburg	9,126	$46,821	$145,100	12.2%
52	Maysville	8,778	$41,923	$152,100	18.4%
53	Hillview	8,735	$65,732	$180,300	6.9%
54	Fort Knox	8,715	$74,224	N/A	9.7%
55	Fort Mitchell	8,676	$80,814	$354,700	6.4%
56	Corbin	8,430	$51,795	$162,600	15.9%
57	Edgewood	8,429	$121,045	$289,700	3.0%
58	Oak Grove	7,945	$47,886	$143,500	15.2%
59	London	7,576	$45,850	$155,500	26.7%
60	Pikeville	7,560	$39,216	$301,300	19.1%
61	Mount Sterling	7,549	$50,843	$178,200	15.4%
62	Union	7,494	$139,013	$382,900	2.9%
63	Villa Hills	7,378	$108,750	$339,800	1.7%
64	Flatwoods	7,281	$60,467	$112,200	16.0%
65	Russellville	7,244	$47,875	$156,000	9.1%
66	Morehead	6,924	$35,000	$176,300	18.5%
67	Taylor Mill	6,880	$83,210	$224,500	10.0%
68	Vine Grove	6,721	$74,786	$213,500	9.3%
69	Hebron	6,637	$101,980	$216,400	8.4%
70	Highland Heights	6,531	$52,437	$148,600	4.7%
71	Leitchfield	6,434	$47,168	$156,700	12.6%
72	Cynthiana	6,412	$49,817	$154,700	22.0%
73	Lebanon	6,364	$39,483	$130,100	23.2%
74	Cold Spring	6,298	$80,172	$235,200	7.6%
75	Crestwood	6,275	$101,086	$315,100	2.1%
76	Princeton	6,242	$51,875	$89,700	11.9%
77	Wilmore	6,031	$64,245	$210,700	11.5%
78	Fort Wright	5,882	$100,647	$305,500	5.1%
79	Monticello	5,741	$37,733	$125,800	26.6%
80	Central City	5,736	$49,025	$140,700	20.0%
81	Dayton	5,703	$62,500	$144,100	19.9%
82	Bellevue	5,598	$67,143	$186,200	5.8%
83	Walton	5,513	$76,375	$226,200	6.9%
84	Douglass Hills	5,437	$92,826	$331,500	1.6%
85	Williamsburg	5,226	$32,431	$108,800	21.3%
86	Hazard	5,105	$68,582	$146,100	34.0%
87	Massac	4,937	$75,103	$215,000	9.2%
88	Reidland	4,887	$83,764	$214,600	7.5%
89	Columbia	4,842	$45,221	$123,500	16.4%
90	Hendron	4,840	$64,777	$197,900	0.0%
91	Benton	4,774	$63,368	$159,600	6.5%
92	Hurstbourne	4,669	$113,906	$495,100	1.4%
93	Prospect	4,518	$172,361	$494,000	2.3%
94	Westwood	4,480	$70,012	$94,100	12.3%
95	Greenville	4,435	$70,401	$118,500	14.4%
96	Crescent Springs	4,402	$76,530	$289,300	1.7%
97	Farley	4,402	$45,676	$82,400	23.8%
98	Scottsville	4,391	$36,259	$140,600	14.9%
99	Ludlow	4,378	$58,295	$154,700	15.5%
100	Paintsville	4,256	$26,713	$110,800	34.1%

What to do with Kentucky's city data

520 cities is a lot to browse, here's where to start.

Louisville/Jefferson County is Kentucky's largest tracked city by population, start there if you want the fullest picture of a major KY metro. Louisville/Jefferson County profile
5 tracked cities in Kentucky sit at the Census ACS top-code of $250,000 or more, so no single city can be named the highest-income. Browse the city table by income column instead of trusting a single crown. All Kentucky cities
See how Kentucky's cities stack up nationally, not just against each other. National rankings

City counts and averages on this page cover only the 520 places with sufficient Census ACS data, smaller towns below the reporting threshold are not included.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES.

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide similar states

Other states closest to Kentucky on two ACS statewide axes: tracked-city population sum and mean of city median household incomes. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a claim that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar statewide population

Nearest 50-state peers by ACS population of tracked cities. This state: 2,686,340.

4 peers

Similar mean household income

Nearest peers by mean of city median household incomes. This state: $66,474. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

National city rankings →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many cities does PlainCities track in Kentucky?

PlainCities profiles 520 cities and towns in Kentucky, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2023).

What is the largest city in Kentucky?

Louisville/Jefferson County is the largest tracked city in Kentucky, with a population of 627,210.

What is the average household income in Kentucky?

Across the 520 tracked cities in Kentucky, the average median household income is $66,474. Individual cities vary widely - 5 tracked cities in Kentucky sit at the Census ACS top-code of $250,000 or more, so no single city can be named the highest-income.

What is the average poverty rate in Kentucky?

The average poverty rate across Kentucky's tracked cities is 14.3%, based on Census ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023).

Browse all city profiles → | Explore city rankings →

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Largest Cities in Kentucky

Kentucky's city-size mix

Largest cities in Kentucky

How Kentucky ranks nationally

Largest cities in Kentucky

Nationwide similar states

Similar statewide population

Similar mean household income

Frequently Asked Questions

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