County Maps US

Whitley County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 28 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21235

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

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Population
37,297
+601 (+1.6%) since 2020
Land area
437.9
square miles. A further 1.6% of the total area is water
Population density
85.2
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Williamsburg
Seat of county government.
Established
1818
207 years ago
Largest city
Corbin city
Population 6,071 for the whole place, which extends beyond 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 Whitley 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 Whitley 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 796 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 Whitley 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
Population37,29728th of 1201,257th of 3,144
Land area437.9 sq mi23rd of 1202,311th of 3,144
Population density85.2 per sq mi42nd of 1201,033rd of 3,144
Median household income$44,61599th of 1202,977th of 3,143

Full data for Whitley County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population37,297Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202036,696Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?36,714Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area437.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area7.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area445.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?85.2 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$44,615American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$131,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age35.2American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households13,541American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units15,629American 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
+16
563 births, 547 deaths
Net migration
+72
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 Whitley 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
McCreary CountyKentucky34 mi17,124
Knox CountyKentucky33 mi29,532
Laurel CountyKentucky25 mi63,746
Campbell CountyTennessee13 mi40,290
Bell CountyKentucky11 mi22,829
Claiborne CountyTennessee3.2 mi33,229

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.