List of counties in Kentucky
This is a list of the 120 counties in the U.S. commonwealth of Kentucky. Despite ranking 37th in size by area, Kentucky has 120 counties; depending on definitions, this is either third or fourth among U.S. states. Texas has 254 counties and Georgia 159; Virginia has only 95 counties, but also has 38 independent cities that are not part of any county and deal directly with the state government, giving that state 133 county-level administrative units.[1] The original motivation for having so many counties was to ensure that residents in the days of poor roads and horseback travel could make a round trip from their home to the county seat and back in a single day, as well as being able to travel from one county seat to the next in the same fashion.[2] Later, however, politics began to play a part, with citizens who disagreed with the present county government simply petitioning the state to create a new county. Today, 20 of the 120 counties have fewer than 10,000 residents, and half have fewer than 20,000. However the 20 largest counties by population all have populations of 50,000 or higher. The average county population, based on an estimated 2017 state population of 4.454 million, was 37,117.
| Counties of Kentucky | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Commonwealth of Kentucky |
| Number | 120 |
| Populations | 2,282 (Robertson) – 741,096 (Jefferson) |
| Areas | 99 square miles (260 km2) (Gallatin) – 788 square miles (2,040 km2) (Pike) |
| Government | County government |
The 1891 Kentucky Constitution placed stricter limits on county creation, stipulating that a new county:
- must have a land area of at least 400 square miles (1,036 km2);
- must have a population of at least 12,000 people;
- must not by its creation reduce the land area of an existing county to less than 400 square miles;
- must not by its creation reduce the population of an existing county to fewer than 12,000 people;
- must not create a county boundary line that passes within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of an existing county seat.
These regulations have reined in the proliferation of counties in Kentucky. Since the 1891 Constitution, only McCreary County has been legally created, in 1912. The General Assembly's creation of Beckham County in 1904 was ruled unconstitutional.[3]
Because today's largest county by area, Pike County, is 788 square miles (2,041 km2), it is now impossible to create a new county from a single existing county under the current constitution. Any county to be created in this manner will necessarily reduce the land area of the old county to less than 400 square miles (1,000 km2). It is still possible to form a new county from portions of more than one existing county; McCreary County was formed in this manner, from parts of Wayne, Pulaski and Whitley counties.
The largest city in Kentucky, Louisville, is a consolidated local government under KRS 67C. The second largest, Lexington, is an urban-county government under KRS 67A. Lexington and Fayette County are completely merged and there are no separate incorporated cities within the county. When the Louisville Metro government was formed, all incorporated cities in Jefferson County, apart from Louisville, retained their status as cities; however, the Louisville Metro Council is the main government for the entire county, and is elected by residents in all of Jefferson County. In both of these counties, while Lexington and Louisville city governments govern their respective counties, a county Fiscal Court (Kentucky's governing body for counties) is still elected, as required by Kentucky's Constitution.
The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry; for Kentucky the codes start with 21 and are completed with the three digit county code. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.
Forty-one counties (Adair, Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Clinton, Crittenden, Cumberland, Daviess, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Green, Hancock, Hart, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Russell, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren and Webster counties) lie in the Central Time Zone.
Seventy-nine counties (Anderson, Bath, Bell, Boone, Bourbon, Boyd, Boyle, Bracken, Breathitt, Bullitt, Campbell, Carroll, Carter, Casey, Clark, Clay, Elliott, Estill, Fayette, Fleming, Floyd, Franklin, Gallatin, Garrard, Grant, Greenup, Hardin, Harlan, Harrison, Henry, Jackson, Jefferson, Jessamine, Johnson, Kenton, Knott, Knox, LaRue, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Magoffin, Marion, Martin, Mason, McCreary, Meade, Menifee, Mercer, Montgomery, Morgan, Nelson, Nicholas, Oldham, Owen, Owsley, Pendleton, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Robertson, Rockcastle, Rowan, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Taylor, Trimble, Washington, Wayne, Whitley, Wolfe and Woodford counties) lie in the Eastern Time Zone.
Alphabetical list
- FIPS County Codes are 5 digit codes. All County Codes for KY begin with 21 (in the format 21XXX where XXX are the numbers listed in the table below).
Clickable map
The map shown below is clickable; click on any county to be redirected to the page for that county, or use the text links shown above on this page.
See also
Notes
- "How Many Counties are in Your State?". Click and Learn. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- Kleber, John E., ed. (1992). "Counties". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
- "Fiscal Court". County Government in Kentucky: Informational Bulletin No. 115. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 1996.
- "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA. Archived from the original on September 9, 2004. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
- National Association of Counties. "NACo – Find a county". Archived from the original on July 11, 2007. Retrieved July 22, 2007.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- "Kentucky QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2015. (2015 Census Estimate)
- "History of Crittenden County, Kentucky and The Crittenden Press, published since 1879". The Crittenden Press. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
- "About Garrard County". Kentucky Comprehensive Genealogy Database. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
- "Welcome to Mason County, Kentucky". Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2007.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- "Montgomery County, Kentucky Genealogy". Kentucky Comprehensive Genealogy Database. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
Further reading
- Kleber, John E.; Thomas D. Clark; Lowell H. Harrison; James C. Klotter (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. (Main reference for data in the list, unless otherwise noted).
External links
- Kentucky Atlas and County Formation Maps, mapgeeks.org website