County Maps US

Rockcastle County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 71 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21203

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

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Population
16,148
+91 (+0.6%) since 2020
Land area
316.6
square miles. A further 0.5% of the total area is water
Population density
51.0
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Mount Vernon
Seat of county government.
Established
1810
215 years ago
Largest city
Mount Vernon city
Population 2,455.

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 Rockcastle 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 Rockcastle 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 633 by 800 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 Rockcastle 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
Population16,14871st of 1202,033rd of 3,144
Land area316.6 sq mi57th of 1202,770th of 3,144
Population density51.0 per sq mi70th of 1201,447th of 3,144
Median household income$48,86285th of 1202,836th of 3,143

Full data for Rockcastle County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population16,148Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202016,057Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?16,033Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area316.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area318.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?51.0 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$48,862American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$123,600American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age42.8American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households6,534American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units7,391American 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
-106
179 births, 285 deaths
Net migration
+41
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 Rockcastle 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
Laurel CountyKentucky26 mi63,746
Jackson CountyKentucky20 mi13,325
Pulaski CountyKentucky17 mi67,384
Madison CountyKentucky12 mi101,696
Lincoln CountyKentucky11 mi25,353
Garrard CountyKentucky10 mi18,207

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.