Meade County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 34 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21163

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

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Population
30,699
+669 (+2.2%) since 2020
Land area
305.5
square miles. A further 5.8% of the total area is water
Population density
100
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Brandenburg
Seat of county government.
Established
1823
202 years ago
Largest city
Brandenburg city
Population 3,003.

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 Meade 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 Meade 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 790 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 Meade 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
Population30,69934th of 1201,425th of 3,144
Land area305.5 sq mi61st of 1202,799th of 3,144
Population density100 per sq mi32nd of 120917th of 3,144
Median household income$74,35512th of 120882nd of 3,143

Full data for Meade County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population30,699Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202030,030Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?30,005Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area305.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area18.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area324.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?100 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$74,355American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$207,900American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age39.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households11,007American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units12,237American 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
290 births, 261 deaths
Net migration
+172
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 5 areas bordering Meade 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
Harrison CountyIndiana31 mi40,437
Breckinridge CountyKentucky25 mi21,503
Hardin CountyKentucky21 mi113,482
Crawford CountyIndiana19 mi10,509
Perry CountyIndiana8.6 mi19,389

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.