Nelson County, Kentucky

Nelson County is a county in Kentucky, United States, about 35 miles southeast of Louisville. It
had a population of 46,738 at the 2020 census, an estimated 49,036 by 2025, and covers 424 square
miles (1,100 km2) centred near 37°48′N 85°28′W.

Bardstown is the county seat and its largest city; its postal code is 40004. The county holds 4
cities, 3 census-designated places and several unincorporated communities across the county, and
it runs on Eastern Time. Nelson County has no civil townships; Kentucky counties are divided into
magisterial districts instead.

Towns & Villages in Nelson County

Nelson County has 10 named places on record: 4 incorporated cities and 3 census-designated
places (CDPs) with Census Bureau population counts, plus 3 documented unincorporated communities
with no population count of their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers
crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.

Chaplin sits partly across the LaRue County line, but its post office and the bulk of the
community fall inside Nelson County, so it is counted here. Fairfield was originally platted as
Turkey Town before the state assembly renamed it in 1818.

ZIP Codes

• 40004 — Bardstown (the county’s largest ZIP by population)
• 40008 — Bloomfield
• 40051 — New Haven
• 40020 — Fairfield
• 40012 — Chaplin
• 40107 — Boston
• 40052 — New Hope
• 40013 — Coxs Creek
• 40048 — Nazareth

Howardstown, on the Rolling Fork River in the county’s south, has no working post office of
its own; mail there is delivered under a neighboring town’s ZIP.

Geography

Nelson County sits in Kentucky’s Knobs region, a belt of steep, conical hills that rings
the Bluegrass to the south and west, with rolling farmland in the county’s northern half. Of
its 424 square miles, 418 are land and 6.6 are water, about 1.5 percent. The Rolling Fork River
crosses the county’s southern portion, and Beech Fork, a tributary of the Rolling Fork, cuts
through the middle of the county near Bardstown.

Spencer and Anderson counties lie to the north, Washington and Marion counties to the south,
LaRue County to the southwest, Hardin County to the west, and Bullitt County to the northwest.
Spencer County,
Anderson County,
Washington County,
Marion County,
LaRue County,
Hardin County and
Bullitt County all border Nelson
directly.

Demographics

Nelson County had a population of 46,738 at the 2020 census, and Data USA’s 2024 estimate
puts the county near 47,606 residents. Bardstown and Bloomfield are the two largest communities,
with Bardstown alone holding close to three in ten county residents. Median household income runs
about $69,562 (Data USA, 2024), higher than Kentucky’s statewide figure of $61,118 (2023
ACS). Population density works out to roughly 112 people per square mile of land, well above the
Kentucky county average outside the Louisville and Lexington metro rings, reflecting Nelson
County’s place inside the Louisville/Jefferson County–Elizabethtown–Madison
Combined Statistical Area.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 5,104 people, followed by health
care and social assistance at 4,130 and retail trade at 2,452. Nelson County calls itself the
Bourbon Capital of the World, and the label holds up in employment terms — Heaven Hill,
Barton 1792, Willett and Lux Row Distillers all operate in or near Bardstown, and Beam Suntory
invested $400 million starting in 2022 to expand Jim Beam’s Booker Noe Distillery in Boston,
adding more than 50 jobs. My Old Kentucky Home State Park, built around the Federal Hill mansion
that inspired Stephen Foster’s song, anchors the county’s tourism industry and hosts
an outdoor musical each summer. The county’s biggest annual event is the Kentucky Bourbon
Festival in Bardstown each September, which draws visitors well beyond the county’s own
population.

History

Virginia’s legislature formed Nelson County on 29 November 1784, the fourth county
created in what is now Kentucky, carving it from Jefferson County shortly after the Revolutionary
War. It was named for Thomas Nelson Jr., a Virginia governor and signer of the Declaration of
Independence. Bardstown, settled in 1780, is one of the oldest towns in Kentucky and served as the
first Catholic center west of the Appalachians, a legacy that still stands in the Basilica of
Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral downtown.

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth moved their motherhouse to the Nazareth community, three
miles north of Bardstown, in 1822, and it remains their operating headquarters. The Abbey of Our
Lady of Gethsemani, a Trappist monastery near New Haven, was home to the writer and monk Thomas
Merton for much of his life.

Getting There

The Bluegrass Parkway crosses the county’s southeast corner near Bardstown; no interstate
runs through Nelson County. US 31E, US 62 and US 150 all pass through Bardstown, and Interstate 65
runs just west of the county line through Boston’s eastern edge.

• Louisville — about 35 miles northwest
• Elizabethtown — about 25 miles west
• Frankfort — about 35 miles north
• Lebanon — about 20 miles south

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, roughly 35 miles northwest of Bardstown, is the
nearest major commercial airport. The R.J. Corman Railroad runs freight service over former
Louisville and Nashville Railroad lines through the county; Nelson County has no Amtrak
station.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Nelson County located?
It sits in Kentucky’s Knobs region, about 35 miles southeast of Louisville, bordered by
Spencer, Anderson, Washington, Marion, LaRue, Hardin and Bullitt counties.

What is the population of Nelson County?
46,738 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 49,036.

How big is Nelson County?
424 square miles (1,100 km2), of which 418 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Nelson County?
Bardstown, settled in 1780, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns are in Nelson County?
Four incorporated cities — Bardstown, Bloomfield, New Haven and Fairfield — plus the
census-designated places Chaplin, Boston and New Hope, and unincorporated communities including
Coxs Creek, Nazareth and Howardstown.

What ZIP codes does Nelson County use?
40004 for Bardstown, 40008 for Bloomfield, 40051 for New Haven, 40020 for Fairfield, 40012 for
Chaplin, 40107 for Boston, 40052 for New Hope, 40013 for Coxs Creek and 40048 for Nazareth.

What is Nelson County known for?
Its bourbon distilleries, marketed as the Bourbon Capital of the World, and My Old Kentucky Home
State Park at the Federal Hill mansion.

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