Greenup County, Kentucky

Greenup County is a county in Kentucky, United States, in the state’s northeastern corner
along the Ohio River. It had a population of 35,962 at the 2020 census, an estimated 35,213 by
2025, and covers 354 square miles (920 km2) centred near 38°32′N 82°55′W.

Greenup is the county seat; its postal code is 41144. The county holds 8 incorporated cities
and roughly 35 unincorporated communities, no civil townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its
FIPS code is 21089.

Towns & Villages in Greenup County

Greenup County has 43 named places on record: 8 incorporated cities and 35 unincorporated
communities with no local government of their own. Unincorp. covers rural crossroads and river
communities with no formal municipal boundary; population and ZIP are listed only where the
place has its own Census or postal record.

Two names on this list are easy to mix up. Greenup, the city, shares its name with Greenup
County itself — it is one of only three Kentucky county seats that share a name with their
county, along with Harlan and Henderson. Raceland Junction is a separate rail-side community from
the city of Raceland, a few miles away along the old Chesapeake and Ohio line.

ZIP Codes

• 41144 — Greenup (also covers Wurtland, which has no ZIP of its own)
• 41139 — Flatwoods
• 41169 — Russell and Raceland
• 41183 — Worthington
• 41175 — South Shore
• 41101 — Bellefonte (an Ashland ZIP, since Bellefonte borders the Boyd County city)
• 41174 — South Portsmouth
• 41121 — Argillite

The county’s smaller unincorporated communities — Beechy, Brushart, Danleyton,
Edgington, Frost, Fullerton, Grays Branch, Hopewell, Hunnewell, Kehoe, Letitia, Limeville, Lloyd,
Load, Lynn, Maloneton, Melrose, Naples, Oldtown, Oliver Station, Poplar Highlands, Raceland
Junction, Riverview, Russell Heights, Samaria, Siloam, Sunshine, Truitt, Tygarts Valley, Walsh,
Warnock, West Russell and York — have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered
under the nearest incorporated city’s code.

Geography

Greenup County sits where the Appalachian foothills meet the Ohio River, in Kentucky’s
extreme northeastern corner. Of its 354 square miles, 344 are land and 10 are water, about 2.8
percent — almost all of it the Ohio River itself, which forms the county’s entire
northern border. Tygarts Creek, an 88-mile stream that drains part of neighboring Carter County,
crosses the southwestern part of the county and empties into the Ohio at South Shore. The Little
Sandy River meets the Ohio at Greenup, and the Greenup Locks and Dam, just east of Lloyd, controls
river traffic on this stretch of the Ohio.

Scioto County, Ohio, lies across the river to the north and Lawrence County, Ohio, to the east
across the river as well; on the Kentucky side, Boyd County borders to the southeast, Carter
County to the southwest, and Lewis County to the west. Scioto County, Lawrence County, Boyd County, Carter County and Lewis County all border Greenup
directly.

Demographics

Greenup County had a population of 35,962 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 35,213 residents. Flatwoods and Russell are the two largest communities, together
holding roughly a third of the county’s population. Median household income runs about
$60,751 (a 2024 estimate), below Kentucky’s statewide 2023 ACS figure of $61,118. Population
density works out to about 105 people per square mile of land, concentrated along the Ohio River
towns and thinning out toward the county’s hillier interior.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most county residents, about 3,129 workers,
followed by retail trade at 1,657 and manufacturing at 1,631. Manufacturing pays the highest
average wage in the county, around $62,788 a year. Much of that manufacturing work runs through
Russell, where a CSX Transportation classification yard — once the largest individually
owned rail yard in the world — and part of AK Steel’s Ashland Works operate. Flatwoods
functions largely as a bedroom community; its residents commute to CSX, Marathon Petroleum or
King’s Daughters Medical Center in nearby Ashland. South Shore is home to Graf Brothers
Flooring and Lumber, the largest maker of rift- and quarter-sawn oak flooring in the world, which
employs about 275 people. Lloyd holds Greenup County High School and the county’s
career-and-technical center.

History

The Kentucky General Assembly formed Greenup County on December 12, 1803, from Mason County,
which at the time covered most of eastern Kentucky. It was named for Christopher Greenup, a
Revolutionary War veteran who served as Kentucky’s fourth governor. The town of Greenup was
established by the legislature on February 4, 1818, and incorporated as the county seat on
February 29, 1848.

Raceland was originally named Chinnville. It was renamed in 1925 after Jack O. Keene —
who later founded Keeneland racetrack in Lexington — opened the Raceland Race Course
nearby; the name reverted briefly to Chinnville before returning to Raceland for good in 1930.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway built its Raceland Car Shop in the 1920s, once one of the largest
railway car repair facilities in the United States and still operating today under Progress Rail.
Wurtland takes its name from George and Samuel Grandin Wurts, who founded the nearby Pennsylvania
and Laurel iron furnaces in 1848; Bellefonte’s name likewise comes from a 19th-century iron
furnace, combining the French words for “beautiful” and “foundry.”

Getting There

U.S. Route 23 runs the length of the county along the Ohio River, and the AA Highway (Kentucky
Route 10) connects Greenup County toward Maysville and northern Kentucky. Kentucky Route 67 links
the county to Grayson in Carter County to the south. No interstate highway crosses Greenup
County.

• Ashland, Kentucky — about 8 miles east
• Portsmouth, Ohio — directly across the Ohio River from South Shore
• Grayson, Kentucky — about 15 miles south
• Huntington, West Virginia — about 20 miles southeast

Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia, is the nearest major commercial airport, about
20 miles from Greenup. Ashland Regional Airport in Worthington handles general aviation. Amtrak’s
Cardinal train stops at South Shore, three times a week in each direction between Chicago and New
York.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Greenup County located?
It sits in Kentucky’s extreme northeastern corner along the Ohio River, bordered by Scioto
and Lawrence counties in Ohio and Boyd, Carter and Lewis counties in Kentucky.

What is the population of Greenup County?
35,962 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 35,213.

How big is Greenup County?
354 square miles (920 km2), of which 344 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Greenup County?
Greenup is the county seat, established in 1818 and incorporated in 1848.

How many towns and cities are in Greenup County?
Eight incorporated cities — Flatwoods, Russell, Raceland, Worthington, Greenup, South
Shore, Wurtland and Bellefonte — plus 35 unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Greenup County use?
41144 for Greenup and Wurtland, 41139 for Flatwoods, 41169 for Russell and Raceland, 41183 for
Worthington, 41175 for South Shore, 41101 for Bellefonte, 41174 for South Portsmouth and 41121
for Argillite.

What is Greenup County known for?
The CSX rail yard and AK Steel works at Russell, Graf Brothers Flooring in South Shore, and the
Greenup Locks and Dam on the Ohio River near Lloyd.

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