{"id":4120,"date":"2023-06-15T15:40:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T15:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=4120"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:32:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:32:49","slug":"meade-county-kentucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/meade-county-kentucky\/","title":{"rendered":"Meade County, Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Meade County is a county in Kentucky, United States, on the Ohio River in the north-central<br \/>\npart of the state, about 40 miles southwest of Louisville. It had a population of 30,003 at the<br \/>\n2020 census, an estimated 30,699 by 2024, and covers 325 square miles (840 km2) &mdash; 305 square<br \/>\nmiles of land and 19 square miles of water &mdash; centred near 37&deg;59&prime;N 86&deg;13&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Brandenburg is the county seat; its postal code is 40108. The county holds 3 incorporated<br \/>\ncities and 13 unincorporated places, including the Fort Knox census-designated place, and it runs<br \/>\non Eastern Time.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Meade County<\/h2>\n<p>Meade County has 16 named places on record: 3 incorporated cities, one census-designated place<br \/>\nshared with a neighboring county, and 12 unincorporated communities with no local government of<br \/>\ntheir own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural<br \/>\ncommunities with no formal boundary.<\/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>Brandenburg<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>2,894<\/td>\n<td>40108<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Muldraugh<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>1,040<\/td>\n<td>40155<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ekron<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>175<\/td>\n<td>40117<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fort Knox<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Battletown<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>40104<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Guston<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>40142<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Payneville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>40157<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rhodelia<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>40161<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Big Spring<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Concordia<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Flaherty<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Garrett<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hog Wallow<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lickskillet<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Midway<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rock Haven<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Two places on this list straddle county lines. Muldraugh&#8217;s 1,040 residents are countywide<br \/>\n&mdash; most of the city sits in Meade County&#8217;s eastern edge, with a smaller southern portion<br \/>\nreaching into Hardin County. Fort Knox works the other way: its census-designated place spans<br \/>\nboth Hardin and Meade counties and reported 7,742 residents in 2020, but the great majority of<br \/>\nthat population and the base&#8217;s built-up area sit on the Hardin County side, which is why no<br \/>\ncountywide figure is broken out for Meade County alone.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>40108 &mdash; Brandenburg<\/li>\n<li>40142 &mdash; Guston<\/li>\n<li>40117 &mdash; Ekron<\/li>\n<li>40104 &mdash; Battletown<\/li>\n<li>40155 &mdash; Muldraugh<\/li>\n<li>40157 &mdash; Payneville<\/li>\n<li>40161 &mdash; Rhodelia<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Big Spring, Concordia, Flaherty, Garrett, Hog Wallow, Lickskillet, Midway and Rock Haven have no<br \/>\nZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated town&#8217;s code.<br \/>\nFort Knox uses its own ZIP codes, 40121 and 40122, which are administered under Hardin County<br \/>\nrather than Meade County.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Meade County&#8217;s landscape is mostly karst plain, pocked with sinkholes, rising to occasional<br \/>\nhills. In the northwest, a plateau breaks away from the plains at the Dripping Springs<br \/>\nEscarpment, an easterly-facing cuesta. The county&#8217;s northern border runs 56 miles along the<br \/>\nOhio River, which separates it from three Indiana counties across the water. Of the county&#8217;s<br \/>\n325 square miles, 305 are land and 19 are water, about 5.9 percent &mdash; most of that water is<br \/>\nthe Ohio River itself rather than any inland lake.<\/p>\n<p>Hardin County lies to the southeast, including the shared ground of Fort Knox, and Breckinridge<br \/>\nCounty lies to the southwest. Across the Ohio River, Harrison County, Indiana sits to the<br \/>\nnortheast, Crawford County, Indiana to the north, and Perry County, Indiana to the northwest.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/hardin-county-kentucky\/\">Hardin County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/breckinridge-county\/\">Breckinridge County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/harrison-county\/\">Harrison County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/crawford-county-indiana\/\">Crawford County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/perry-county-indiana\/\">Perry County<\/a> all border Meade<br \/>\nCounty.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Meade County had a population of 30,003 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 30,699 residents by 2024. Brandenburg and Muldraugh are the two largest communities,<br \/>\nthough Muldraugh&#8217;s count is split with Hardin County. Median household income runs $74,355<br \/>\n(2024), well above Kentucky&#8217;s statewide figure of $61,118 (2023 ACS) &mdash; a gap driven<br \/>\nlargely by federal and military payrolls tied to Fort Knox. Population density works out to about<br \/>\n98 people per square mile of land, low even by rural Kentucky standards, reflecting the county&#8217;s<br \/>\nlarge share of federal land and karst terrain that limits development.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance is the county&#8217;s largest employment sector, with about<br \/>\n2,101 workers, followed by retail trade at 1,862 and construction at 1,425, out of roughly 14,189<br \/>\nemployed residents countywide. Fort Knox, the Army post whose grounds reach into the county&#8217;s<br \/>\nsoutheast corner, is by far the region&#8217;s dominant employer &mdash; it hosts the Army Human<br \/>\nResources Command and the adjacent United States Bullion Depository, the fortified Treasury<br \/>\nDepartment vault that stores much of the country&#8217;s gold reserves. Public administration and<br \/>\nmanufacturing pay the highest average wages in the county, reflecting that federal and defense-linked<br \/>\nwork.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Kentucky&#8217;s legislature formed Meade County on 17 December 1823, naming it for Captain<br \/>\nJames M. Meade, who was killed in action at the Battle of River Raisin during the War of 1812.<br \/>\nBrandenburg was founded in 1804 on land called Falling Springs, became the county seat in 1825,<br \/>\nand was formally incorporated in 1872.<\/p>\n<p>In July 1863, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan launched his raid into Indiana from<br \/>\nBrandenburg, crossing the Ohio River with his cavalry during the Civil War. On 3 April 1974, an F5<br \/>\ntornado struck during the Super Outbreak and killed 31 people in Meade County &mdash; all but<br \/>\nthree of the outbreak&#8217;s Kentucky fatalities and most of its injuries happened in<br \/>\nBrandenburg. The storm destroyed 128 homes and 30 businesses in the city.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>No interstate highway crosses Meade County; Interstate 65 runs through neighboring Hardin<br \/>\nCounty to the south. Kentucky Route 79 is the county&#8217;s main north&ndash;south road, running<br \/>\nfrom Guston up through Brandenburg to its northern terminus on the Ohio River, connecting there<br \/>\nwith KY 313 and KY 448; KY 428 and KY 261 also cross the county.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Louisville &mdash; about 40 miles northeast<\/li>\n<li>Elizabethtown &mdash; about 26 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Corydon, Indiana &mdash; about 15 miles north<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, about 40 miles northeast of Brandenburg, is the<br \/>\nnearest major commercial airport. No Amtrak route reaches Meade County; Louisville itself has no<br \/>\npassenger rail service.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Meade County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in north-central Kentucky on the Ohio River, about 40 miles southwest of Louisville,<br \/>\nbordered by Hardin and Breckinridge counties and, across the river, three Indiana counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Meade County?<\/strong><br \/>\n30,003 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 30,699 by 2024.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Meade County?<\/strong><br \/>\n325 square miles (840 km2) total, of which 305 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Meade County?<\/strong><br \/>\nBrandenburg, the county seat since 1825, is also the county&#8217;s largest city.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Meade County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThree incorporated cities &mdash; Brandenburg, Muldraugh (partly) and Ekron &mdash; plus the Fort<br \/>\nKnox CDP and a dozen unincorporated communities including Battletown, Guston, Payneville and<br \/>\nRhodelia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Meade County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n40108 for Brandenburg, 40142 for Guston, 40117 for Ekron, 40104 for Battletown, 40155 for<br \/>\nMuldraugh, 40157 for Payneville and 40161 for Rhodelia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Meade County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nFort Knox and the United States Bullion Depository, and the deadly F5 tornado that hit Brandenburg<br \/>\nduring the April 1974 Super Outbreak.<\/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>Meade County is a county in Kentucky, United States, on the Ohio River in the north-central part of the state, about 40 miles southwest of Louisville. It had a population of 30,003 at the 2020 census, an estimated 30,699 by 2024, and covers 325 square miles (840 km2) &mdash; 305 square miles of land and [&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 Meade County, Kentucky","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 16 places in Meade County, Kentucky - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Fort Knox, the Bullion Depository and the 1974 tornado.","_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-4120","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\/4120","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=4120"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9664,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4120\/revisions\/9664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}