Fayette County, Kentucky

Fayette County is a county in Kentucky, United States, in the north-central Bluegrass Region,
built around the city of Lexington. It had a population of 322,570 at the 2020 census, an
estimated 323,725 by 2024, and covers 284 square miles (735.6 km2) centred near 38°02′N 84°28′W.

Lexington is the county seat, and since 1974 city and county government have run as one
consolidated government — the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government — so there
is no separate incorporated city inside the county line. Its downtown postal code is 40507. The
county has no civil townships; instead it is divided into more than 100 named neighborhoods and
a handful of outlying rural communities, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 21067.

Towns & Villages in Fayette County

Fayette County has no separate towns or villages of its own — Lexington and the county
have shared one government and one set of boundaries since the 1974 merger, the first
city-county consolidation in Kentucky. The places below are recognized neighborhoods and
historic districts rather than incorporated municipalities; the Census Bureau does not publish
population or ZIP figures at this level, so those columns read — throughout.

Athens is the one clearly rural entry on this list — a crossroads community outside
Lexington’s urban service boundary, the ring inside which the urban county government
concentrates sewer and dense development. Everything else above sits inside that boundary and
functions as a city neighborhood, even though none of them carries its own local government or
municipal boundary the way an incorporated town would.

ZIP Codes

Fayette County uses roughly three dozen ZIP codes, nearly all numbered in the 405xx range.
40502 through 40505 cover the near-downtown and university-adjacent neighborhoods, including
Chevy Chase, Ashland Park and Kenwick; 40506 is the University of Kentucky campus itself; 40507
and 40508 cover downtown and the historic core, including Gratz Park; 40509 through 40511 serve
the east side; 40513 through 40515 serve the south and southwest, including Beaumont Centre and
Garden Springs; and 40516 and 40517 cover the far east side toward Athens. The remaining codes
— 40522–40524, 40526, 40533, 40536, 40544, 40546, 40550, 40555, 40574–40583,
40588, 40591 and 40598 — are post office boxes, university stations and large-volume
business codes rather than residential delivery areas.

Geography

Fayette County sits in the heart of the Bluegrass Region, a belt of gently rolling limestone
grassland known worldwide for horse farms. The terrain is karst, with sinkholes and underground
drainage common across the county, and there are no large natural lakes. The Kentucky River
forms part of the county’s southern boundary, cutting through the Kentucky River Palisades,
a steep limestone gorge that separates Fayette from Jessamine County. Elkhorn Creek and its
tributaries drain most of the northern half of the county.

Scott County lies to the north, Bourbon County to the northeast, Clark County to the east,
Madison County to the southeast, Jessamine County to the south, and Woodford County to the
west. Scott County, Bourbon County, Clark County, Madison County, Jessamine County and Woodford County all border
Fayette directly.

Demographics

Fayette County had a population of 322,570 at the 2020 census, the second-highest county
total in Kentucky after Jefferson County, and the latest estimate puts the county near 323,725
residents as of 2024. Since Lexington and the county are one government, there is no second
community to compare it against — nearly the entire population lives inside what would
otherwise be city limits. Median household income runs $69,479, notably higher than
Kentucky’s 2023 statewide figure of $61,118. Population density works out to roughly
1,140 people per square mile, reflecting the county’s status as Kentucky’s most
urbanized county outside Louisville.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector, with about
26,754 workers, followed by educational services at 23,909 and retail trade at 19,311. The
University of Kentucky is the single largest employer in the county, with more than 16,000
employees across its campus and hospital system. Fayette County Public Schools employs several
thousand more, and Lexmark International and Xerox both run major operations that trace back to
IBM’s original Lexington typewriter and printer manufacturing plant. The county is also
the commercial and sales center of Kentucky’s Thoroughbred horse industry: Keeneland,
on the county’s southwest side, holds its spring race meet each April and fall meet each
October, alongside horse auctions that draw buyers from around the world. Working horse farms
still cover much of the county outside the urban service boundary.

History

Virginia’s legislature created Fayette County in 1780, one of the original three
counties formed when Kentucky County, Virginia was divided — the other two were Jefferson
and Lincoln. It was named for the Marquis de Lafayette. Lexington, founded in 1775 and chartered
in 1782, became the county seat and grew into one of the leading towns of the early American
frontier, known for a time as the “Athens of the West.”

In February 1920, a mob gathered outside the Fayette County courthouse trying to lynch Will
Lockett, a Black man convicted that day of murder; the Kentucky National Guard opened fire on
the crowd, killing several people. The event remains one of the county’s most documented
episodes of racial violence. In 1974, Lexington and Fayette County voters approved merging city
and county government into the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, the first such
consolidation in Kentucky and one of the earliest in the country.

Getting There

Interstate 75 crosses the county’s eastern side, and Interstate 64 runs along the
northern edge, the two running concurrently for several miles near Lexington. US routes 25, 27,
60, 68 and 421 also pass through the county, and New Circle Road (KY 4) rings the urban core.

• Louisville — about 75 miles west
• Frankfort — about 25 miles northwest
• Richmond — about 25 miles southeast
• Georgetown — about 15 miles north

Blue Grass Airport, on the county’s southwest side, is Fayette County’s own
commercial airport and the nearest one to Lexington. The county has no Amtrak service; the
nearest station is Cincinnati Union Terminal, roughly 80 miles north, served by the Cardinal
line.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Fayette County located?
It sits in the north-central Bluegrass Region of Kentucky, bordered by Scott, Bourbon, Clark,
Madison, Jessamine and Woodford counties.

What is the population of Fayette County?
322,570 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 323,725 as of 2024.

How big is Fayette County?
284 square miles (735.6 km2), Kentucky’s second most populous county.

What is the county seat of Fayette County?
Lexington is the county seat, and it has shared one consolidated government with the county
since 1974.

How many towns and cities are in Fayette County?
None separately — Lexington and the county are one consolidated government, divided into
more than 100 named neighborhoods rather than incorporated municipalities.

What ZIP codes does Fayette County use?
Mostly 40502 through 40517, plus a set of PO-box and institutional codes in the 40520s through
40598.

What is Fayette County known for?
The University of Kentucky, Keeneland race course and sales, and the surrounding Bluegrass
horse farms.

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