Campbell County, Kentucky

Campbell County is a county in Kentucky, United States, about 14 miles south of Cincinnati,
Ohio, across the Ohio River. It had a population of 93,076 at the 2020 census, an estimated
93,426 by 2024, and covers 159 square miles (410 km2) centred near 38°57′N 84°23′W.

Newport is the county seat, sharing that status with Alexandria since a 2010 Kentucky Court of
Appeals ruling gave both cities equal standing; Newport’s postal code is 41071. The county
holds 15 incorporated cities, 1 census-designated place and 3 unincorporated communities, and it
runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 21037.

Towns & Villages in Campbell County

Campbell County has 19 named places on record: 15 incorporated cities (two of them county
seats), 1 census-designated place (Claryville) and 3 unincorporated communities with no local
government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads
communities with no formal boundary.

Dayton and Bellevue sit side by side on the Ohio River and are often mistaken for one another;
Dayton is the larger of the two by land area, Bellevue the older incorporation. Mentor and
California, the county’s two smallest cities, share the 41007 ZIP with each other despite
sitting several miles apart along the Ohio River’s eastern bend.

ZIP Codes

• 41075 — Fort Thomas
• 41071 — Newport (also serves Southgate, Wilder and Woodlawn)
• 41072 — Newport post office boxes
• 41001 — Alexandria (also serves Claryville)
• 41076 — Highland Heights (also serves Cold Spring and Crestview)
• 41099 — Highland Heights, a code exclusive to Northern Kentucky University
• 41073 — Dayton and Bellevue
• 41074 — Dayton and Bellevue post office boxes
• 41085 — Silver Grove
• 41059 — Melbourne
• 41007 — Mentor and California

Brayville, Camp Springs and Oneonta have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered
under the nearest incorporated city’s code.

Geography

Campbell County lies in the Bluegrass region’s northern tip, where rolling hills meet the
Ohio River floodplain. Of its 159 square miles, 151 are land and 8.1 are water, about 5.1
percent — the Ohio River forms the county’s entire northern edge, and the Licking
River runs along its western boundary with Kenton County before joining the Ohio at Newport.
The county’s southern half, around Claryville and Grants Lick, is hillier and far less
built up than its river cities.

Hamilton County, Ohio, lies across the Ohio River to the north; Clermont County, Ohio, borders
to the east; Pendleton County, Kentucky, lies to the south; and Kenton County, Kentucky, borders
to the west across the Licking River. Hamilton County,
Clermont County,
Pendleton County and
Kenton County all border Campbell
directly.

Demographics

Campbell County had a population of 93,076 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 93,426 residents as of 2024. Fort Thomas and Newport are by far the two largest
communities, together holding roughly a third of the county’s population. Median household
income runs $77,567 (2024), well above Kentucky’s statewide figure of $61,118 (2023 ACS).
Population density works out to roughly 616 people per square mile of land, high for Kentucky
outside Louisville and Lexington, reflecting the county’s position inside the Cincinnati
metropolitan area.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 7,447 people,
followed by manufacturing at 4,890 and educational services at 4,371. St. Elizabeth Healthcare
runs a hospital campus in Fort Thomas, one of the county’s largest employers. Northern
Kentucky University, in Highland Heights, enrolled 15,370 students in fall 2024 and anchors the
county’s education sector. Newport’s riverfront, built up since the 1990s around
Newport on the Levee and the Newport Aquarium, gives the county a tourism and retail base tied
directly to the Cincinnati riverfront across the water. Older river cities such as Bellevue and
Dayton remain mostly residential, drawing Cincinnati commuters who cross the Ohio River daily.

History

Kentucky’s General Assembly formed Campbell County on 17 December 1794, carving it out of
Scott, Harrison and Mason Counties. It was named for Colonel John Campbell (1735–1799), a
Revolutionary War soldier and Kentucky legislator. Newport was established as a town in 1795 and
incorporated as a city in 1834; Alexandria formally became a city in 1834 and was incorporated
in 1856.

The US Army built Fort Thomas in 1890 on 111 acres General Philip Sheridan personally selected,
naming it for General George Henry Thomas and predicting it would become the “West Point of
the West.” The post served as a training depot, induction center and military hospital
through both world wars before most operations transferred to the Veterans Administration in
1946 and the post closed in 1964; the city of Fort Thomas, incorporated in 1914, grew up around
it and now occupies much of the former reservation. Newport, for decades known for illegal
gambling and nightclubs on Monmouth Street, cracked down on organized crime through the 1960s
and remade its riverfront as a family destination beginning in the 1980s.

Getting There

Interstate 275 loops through the county’s north side and Interstate 471 crosses the Ohio
River from Newport into Cincinnati; US Route 27 runs north-south through Alexandria and Newport,
along with Kentucky Routes 8, 9, 10 and 154.

• Cincinnati, Ohio — about 1 mile north of Newport, across the Ohio River
• Covington, Kentucky — about 3 miles west
• Independence, Kentucky — about 12 miles southwest
• Falmouth, Kentucky — about 15 miles south

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, about 20 miles southwest in Boone County,
is the nearest major commercial airport. Amtrak’s Cardinal line stops at Cincinnati Union
Terminal, across the river from Newport, three days a week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Campbell County located?
It sits in Kentucky’s northern tip along the Ohio River, about 14 miles south of
Cincinnati, bordered by Hamilton, Clermont, Pendleton and Kenton Counties.

What is the population of Campbell County?
93,076 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 93,426.

How big is Campbell County?
159 square miles (410 km2), of which 151 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Campbell County?
Newport and Alexandria are both county seats, a shared arrangement dating to a 2010 court
ruling.

How many towns and cities are in Campbell County?
Fifteen incorporated cities, plus the Claryville census-designated place and three unincorporated
communities: Brayville, Camp Springs and Oneonta.

What ZIP codes does Campbell County use?
41001, 41007, 41059, 41071, 41072, 41073, 41074, 41075, 41076, 41085 and 41099.

What is Campbell County known for?
Newport’s riverfront district, home to the Newport Aquarium and Newport on the Levee, and
Fort Thomas, an 1890 US Army post that gave its name to the city built on its grounds.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Kentucky.