County Maps US

McCreary County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 67 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21147

Within Kentucky
McCreary County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data.

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Population
17,124
+284 (+1.7%) since 2020
Land area
426.7
square miles. A further 1.0% of the total area is water
Population density
40.1
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Whitley City
Seat of county government.
Established
1912
113 years ago
Largest city
Not available
No incorporated place lies within this county.

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 McCreary 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 McCreary 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 685 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 McCreary 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
Population17,12467th of 1201,970th of 3,144
Land area426.7 sq mi26th of 1202,379th of 3,144
Population density40.1 per sq mi87th of 1201,673rd of 3,144
Median household income$33,750115th of 1203,123rd of 3,143

Full data for McCreary County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population17,124Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202016,840Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?16,885Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area426.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area4.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area431 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?40.1 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$33,750American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$85,300American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age39.0American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households5,861American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units6,920American 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
-29
189 births, 218 deaths
Net migration
+233
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 6 areas bordering McCreary 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
Whitley CountyKentucky34 mi37,297
Wayne CountyKentucky33 mi19,597
Scott CountyTennessee29 mi22,671
Pulaski CountyKentucky14 mi67,384
Laurel CountyKentucky5.6 mi63,746
Campbell CountyTennessee1.9 mi40,290

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.