County Maps US

McCracken County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 13 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21145

Within Kentucky
McCracken County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Paducah, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
67,553
-370 (-0.5%) since 2020
Land area
248.8
square miles. A further 7.1% of the total area is water
Population density
272
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Paducah
Seat of county government.
Established
1824
201 years ago
Largest city
Paducah city
Population 26,730.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of McCracken County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of McCracken County, Kentucky from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 652 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where McCracken County ranks

Position among the 120 counties of Kentucky, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn KentuckyNationally
Population67,55313th of 120813th of 3,144
Land area248.8 sq mi85th of 1202,916th of 3,144
Population density272 per sq mi11th of 120473rd of 3,144
Median household income$64,37332nd of 1201,681st of 3,143

Full data for McCracken County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population67,553Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202067,923Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?67,873Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area248.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area19.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area267.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?272 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$64,373American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$188,100American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age42.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households27,601American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units32,280American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-182
654 births, 836 deaths
Net migration
+1
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 7 areas bordering McCracken County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Massac CountyIllinois24 mi13,502
Ballard CountyKentucky20 mi7,594
Graves CountyKentucky18 mi37,050
Livingston CountyKentucky6.4 mi8,863
Marshall CountyKentucky5.6 mi31,659
Pulaski CountyIllinois1.4 mi4,820
Carlisle CountyKentucky0.5 mi4,747

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 120 counties of Kentucky

Open the interactive Kentucky county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.