{"id":3899,"date":"2023-06-10T09:02:29","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T09:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=3899"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:32:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:32:52","slug":"boyd-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/boyd-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Boyd County, Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Boyd County is a county in Kentucky, United States, in the northeastern corner of the state<br \/>\nwhere the Ohio River meets the Big Sandy River. It had a population of 48,261 at the 2020<br \/>\ncensus, an estimated 47,751 by 2025, and covers 160 square miles (410 km2) centred near<br \/>\n38\u00b022\u2032N 82\u00b041\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Catlettsburg is the county seat; its postal code is 41129. Ashland, seven miles west, is the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s largest city and its economic hub. The county holds 2 incorporated cities, 3 census<br \/>\ndesignated places and about a dozen smaller unincorporated communities, and it runs on Eastern<br \/>\nTime.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Boyd County<\/h2>\n<p>Boyd County has 21 named places on record: 2 incorporated cities and 19 unincorporated<br \/>\ncommunities, 3 of which are recognized as census designated places (CDPs) with their own<br \/>\npopulation counts. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural<br \/>\ncommunities with no formal boundary or local government.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Ashland<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>21,625<\/td>\n<td>41101<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Catlettsburg<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>1,780<\/td>\n<td>41129<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Westwood<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>4,387<\/td>\n<td>41101<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cannonsburg<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>862<\/td>\n<td>41102<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ironville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>782<\/td>\n<td>41102<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rush<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Burnaugh<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Coalton<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Durbin<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>England Hill<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Garner<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kavanaugh<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kilgore<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lockwood<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Meads<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Normal<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Princess<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rockdale<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Summit<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Unity<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Winslow<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rush straddles the Boyd&#8211;Carter county line; only part of the crossroads community sits in<br \/>\nBoyd County, and its population is not tallied separately for the Boyd side. Neal, a former coal<br \/>\nand timber camp from the 1920s abandoned after the Second World War, no longer appears as an<br \/>\ninhabited place and is left off this list.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>41101 &mdash; Ashland (also covers Westwood)<\/li>\n<li>41102 &mdash; Ashland (also serves Cannonsburg and Ironville)<\/li>\n<li>41105 &mdash; Ashland (a P.O. box ZIP)<\/li>\n<li>41129 &mdash; Catlettsburg<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Rush, Burnaugh, Coalton, Durbin, Garner, Kavanaugh, Kilgore, Lockwood, Meads, Normal, Princess,<br \/>\nRockdale, Summit, Unity and Winslow have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under<br \/>\nAshland&#8217;s or Catlettsburg&#8217;s code depending on location.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Boyd County sits in Kentucky&#8217;s northeastern corner, in the green rolling hills of the<br \/>\nAppalachian foothills where the Ohio River bends south to meet the Big Sandy River. Of its 162<br \/>\nsquare miles, 160 are land and 2.2 are water, about 1.3 percent &mdash; low, since the county has<br \/>\nno large lake and its water surface is almost entirely the two rivers that form its northern and<br \/>\neastern borders. The county is part of the Huntington&#8211;Ashland metropolitan statistical area,<br \/>\nwhich spans Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>Greenup County lies to the northwest, Lawrence County, Ohio, across the Ohio River to the<br \/>\nnortheast, Wayne County, West Virginia, across the Big Sandy River to the east, Lawrence County,<br \/>\nKentucky, to the south, and Carter County to the west. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/greenup-county\/\">Greenup County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/lawrence-county-ohio\/\">Lawrence County, Ohio<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wayne-county-west-virginia\/\">Wayne County, West Virginia<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/lawrence-county-kentucky\/\">Lawrence County, Kentucky<\/a> and<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/carter-county\/\">Carter County<\/a> all border Boyd County<br \/>\ndirectly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Boyd County had a population of 48,261 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 47,751 residents by 2025, a modest decline typical of northeastern Kentucky&#8217;s<br \/>\nformer industrial counties. Ashland and Westwood are the two largest communities, together home<br \/>\nto well over half the county&#8217;s population. Median household income for Kentucky stood at<br \/>\n$61,118 (2023 ACS), and Boyd County&#8217;s figure runs close to that statewide line, reflecting<br \/>\nthe county&#8217;s mix of hospital, retail and light-industrial jobs. Population density works<br \/>\nout to roughly 302 people per square mile of land, dense for a rural Kentucky county and<br \/>\nconcentrated almost entirely along the Ashland&#8211;Catlettsburg river corridor.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care is the county&#8217;s largest employer sector. UK King&#8217;s Daughters Medical<br \/>\nCenter in Ashland is the fourth-largest hospital in Kentucky, with more than 4,000 employees<br \/>\ndrawing patients from across the tri-state area. The county&#8217;s economy was built on heavy<br \/>\nindustry &mdash; steelmaking, petroleum refining and activated-carbon production &mdash; and while<br \/>\nthe AK Steel (formerly Armco) mill in Ashland closed in 2019, Calgon Carbon still runs an<br \/>\nactivated-carbon plant in Catlettsburg, and Marathon Petroleum operates a refinery just across the<br \/>\ncounty line. Catlettsburg was once the largest hardwood timber market in the world, from the late<br \/>\n1800s through the early 1920s, when logs floated down the Big Sandy to its riverfront mills. The<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s biggest annual event is Poage Landing Days in Ashland each September, marking the<br \/>\nPoage family&#8217;s 1786 founding of the settlement with music, crafts and a riverfront market.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>The Kentucky legislature formed Boyd County in 1860, the 107th of the state&#8217;s 120<br \/>\ncounties, carving it from parts of Greenup, Carter and Lawrence counties. It was named for Linn<br \/>\nBoyd, a Kentucky congressman who served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.<br \/>\nCatlettsburg, already established at the mouth of the Big Sandy River, became the county<br \/>\nseat.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Smith, a French and Indian War veteran, received about 400 acres around Chadwicks<br \/>\nCreek for his service and built a cabin there in 1774, among the earliest European settlement in<br \/>\nthe area. During the Civil War, Catlettsburg served as a Union Army supply depot on the Big Sandy.<br \/>\nThe Chesapeake &amp; Ohio Railway bridged the river at Catlettsburg starting in 1885, a crossing<br \/>\nthat still carries roughly 80 trains a day.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>No interstate crosses Boyd County directly; US Route 23 runs the length of the county along the<br \/>\nOhio and Big Sandy rivers, and US Route 60 crosses it east&#8211;west through Ashland and<br \/>\nCatlettsburg.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Huntington, West Virginia &mdash; about 15 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Ironton, Ohio &mdash; about 10 miles northeast<\/li>\n<li>Grayson &mdash; about 20 miles southwest<\/li>\n<li>Louisa &mdash; about 25 miles south<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tri-State Airport, across the Big Sandy in Huntington, West Virginia, is the nearest<br \/>\ncommercial airport, about 15 miles from Ashland. Amtrak&#8217;s Cardinal train, running between<br \/>\nChicago and New York via Washington, D.C., stops at the Catlettsburg station beside the C&amp;O<br \/>\nrail bridge.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Boyd County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in Kentucky&#8217;s northeastern corner, where the Ohio River meets the Big Sandy River,<br \/>\nbordered by Greenup, Carter and Lawrence counties in Kentucky and Lawrence County, Ohio, and Wayne<br \/>\nCounty, West Virginia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Boyd County?<\/strong><br \/>\n48,261 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 47,751.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Boyd County?<\/strong><br \/>\n160 square miles (410 km2) of land, plus 2.2 square miles of water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Boyd County?<\/strong><br \/>\nCatlettsburg, at the mouth of the Big Sandy River, is the county seat; Ashland is the largest<br \/>\ncity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Boyd County?<\/strong><br \/>\nTwo incorporated cities, Ashland and Catlettsburg, plus the census designated places Westwood,<br \/>\nCannonsburg and Ironville, and 16 smaller unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Boyd County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n41101 and 41102 for Ashland and its CDPs, 41105 for a P.O. box ZIP, and 41129 for<br \/>\nCatlettsburg.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Boyd County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nUK King&#8217;s Daughters Medical Center, one of Kentucky&#8217;s largest hospitals, and<br \/>\nCatlettsburg&#8217;s history as the world&#8217;s largest hardwood timber market in the early<br \/>\n1900s.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/kentucky\/\">Towns and villages in Kentucky<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boyd County is a county in Kentucky, United States, in the northeastern corner of the state where the Ohio River meets the Big Sandy River. It had a population of 48,261 at the 2020 census, an estimated 47,751 by 2025, and covers 160 square miles (410 km2) centred near 38\u00b022\u2032N 82\u00b041\u2032W. Catlettsburg is the county [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Boyd County, Kentucky","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 21 places in Boyd County, Kentucky - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Ashland, Catlettsburg and Poage Landing Days.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-3899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-kentucky","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3899"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9709,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3899\/revisions\/9709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}