Carter County is a county in Kentucky, United States, along U.S. Route 60 in the northeastern part of the state. It had a population of 26,627 at the 2020 census and covers 412 square miles (1,070 km2), of which 409 square miles (1,060 km2) are land, centred near 38°20′N 83°03′W.
Grayson is the county seat; its postal code is 41143. The county has two incorporated cities and more than fifty unincorporated communities and crossroads. Kentucky does not use civil townships, so this profile has no townships section. The county sits in the Eastern time zone.
Towns & Villages in Carter County
Carter County has two incorporated cities, Grayson and Olive Hill, and a large number of small unincorporated communities scattered through its hills and hollows — former mining camps, rail sidings and rural crossroads. The table below marks incorporated places as City and everything else as Unincorp.; population and ZIP figures are shown only where verified.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grayson | City · seat | 3,834 | 41143 |
| Olive Hill | City | 1,580 | 41164 |
| Access | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Aden | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Beech Grove | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Beetle | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Boone Furnace | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Brinegar | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Carter | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Charlotte Furnace | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Clark Hill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Cory | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Counts Crossroads | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Deevert | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Denton | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Eby | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Enterprise | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Fairview Hill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Fitch | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Fultz | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Garvin Ridge | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Gesling | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Globe | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Gollihue | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Grahn | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Grant | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Gregoryville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hayward | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hitchins | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Iron Hill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Jacobs | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Jeriel | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Johns Run | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lawton | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Leon | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Limestone | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mount Savage | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mountain Top | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Music | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Norton Branch | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Pactolus | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Poplar | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Prater | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Reedville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rooney | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rose Hill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Smiths Creek | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Smoky Valley | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Soldier | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sophi | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Stinson | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Straight Creek | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Upper Tygart | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Wesleyville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Willard | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Williams Creek | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Wolf | Unincorp. | — | — |
ZIP Codes
- 41143 — Grayson (also serves the county seat and surrounding rural routes)
- 41164 — Olive Hill
The county’s unincorporated communities generally use the ZIP code of their nearest post office town rather than having one of their own.
Geography
Carter County lies in the Cumberland Plateau region of eastern Kentucky, a landscape of forested ridges, sandstone cliffs and narrow creek valleys. Tygarts Creek and the Little Sandy River drain the county, and Carter Caves State Resort Park protects one of the state’s best-known cave systems along the Bat Grotto and Cascade Cave trails. The county borders Greenup County to the northeast, Boyd County to the east, Lawrence County to the southeast, Elliott County to the south, Rowan County to the southwest and Lewis County to the northwest.
Read more: Greenup County, Boyd County, Lawrence County, Elliott County and Lewis County.
Demographics
Carter County had 26,627 residents at the 2020 census, spread across roughly 65 people per square mile. Grayson, the county seat, is the largest community at 3,834 residents; Olive Hill is second at 1,580. Median household income in the county runs below the Kentucky median of $61,118, reflecting the county’s historically extraction-based rural economy.
Economy & Local Life
Carter County’s economy centres on Grayson and Olive Hill, with retail, healthcare and public-sector employment along the U.S. 60 and I-64 corridor. Kentucky Christian University, a private Christian college, is based in Grayson and is one of the county’s larger employers. The county’s fire-clay and refractory-brick industry, once a major regional employer around Olive Hill, has declined from its early-20th-century peak. Carter Caves State Resort Park draws visitors for caving, hiking and its lodge, and is a significant source of tourism income for the county.
History
Carter County was formed on February 9, 1838, from parts of Greenup County and Lawrence County. It was named for Colonel William Grayson Carter, a Kentucky state senator; the county seat, Grayson, honors his uncle, Robert Grayson. The county’s clay-rich soils supported a fire-clay and brick-making industry centred on Olive Hill through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the county lies within the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH metropolitan statistical area today.
Getting There
Interstate 64 and U.S. Route 60 cross Carter County, linking Grayson to the Huntington-Ashland metro area and to Lexington.
- Ashland, Kentucky — 20 miles east
- Morehead, Kentucky — 20 miles southwest
- Huntington, West Virginia — 30 miles east
- Lexington, Kentucky — 100 miles southwest
The nearest commercial airport is Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia; Tri-State Airport near Huntington, West Virginia also serves the area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Carter County, Kentucky?
It is in the northeastern part of Kentucky, along U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 64, within the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area.
What is the population of Carter County?
26,627 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Carter County?
412 square miles (1,070 km2), of which 409 square miles are land.
What is the county seat of Carter County?
Grayson is the county seat.
How many towns are in Carter County?
Two incorporated cities, Grayson and Olive Hill, plus more than fifty unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Carter County?
Grayson uses 41143 and Olive Hill uses 41164; other communities generally share the ZIP code of their nearest post office town.
What is Carter Caves State Resort Park?
A Kentucky state park in the county known for its sandstone caves, including Bat Grotto and Cascade Cave, plus hiking trails and a lodge.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Kentucky.