County Maps US

Powell County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 86 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21197

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

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Population
12,812
-286 (-2.2%) since 2020
Land area
179
square miles. A further 0.6% of the total area is water
Population density
71.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Stanton
Seat of county government.
Established
1852
173 years ago
Largest city
Stanton city
Population 3,153.

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 Powell 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 Powell 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 582 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 Powell 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
Population12,81286th of 1202,230th of 3,144
Land area179 sq mi112th of 1203,030th of 3,144
Population density71.6 per sq mi50th of 1201,162nd of 3,144
Median household income$40,309107th of 1203,063rd of 3,143

Full data for Powell County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population12,812Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202013,098Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?13,130Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area179 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area180.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?71.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$40,309American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$141,100American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age39.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households4,790American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units5,647American 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
-66
132 births, 198 deaths
Net migration
+17
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 Powell 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
Estill CountyKentucky28 mi13,962
Montgomery CountyKentucky14 mi28,822
Clark CountyKentucky13 mi37,888
Menifee CountyKentucky13 mi6,430
Wolfe CountyKentucky8.6 mi6,298
Lee CountyKentucky1.0 mi7,297

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.