County Maps US

Bell County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 51 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21013

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

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Population
22,829
-1,152 (-4.8%) since 2020
Land area
359
square miles. A further 0.6% of the total area is water
Population density
63.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Pineville
Seat of county government.
Established
1867
158 years ago
Largest city
Middlesborough city
Population 8,776.

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 Bell 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 Bell 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 754 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 Bell 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
Population22,82951st of 1201,692nd of 3,144
Land area359 sq mi42nd of 1202,658th of 3,144
Population density63.6 per sq mi59th of 1201,263rd of 3,144
Median household income$31,354118th of 1203,137th of 3,143

Full data for Bell County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population22,829Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202023,981Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?24,096Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area359 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area2.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area361.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?63.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$31,354American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$89,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age41.7American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households9,939American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units11,631American 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
-213
234 births, 447 deaths
Net migration
+38
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 7 areas bordering Bell 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
Knox CountyKentucky37 mi29,532
Harlan CountyKentucky19 mi24,725
Lee CountyVirginia15 mi21,642
Claiborne CountyTennessee15 mi33,229
Whitley CountyKentucky11 mi37,297
Leslie CountyKentucky5.6 mi9,627
Clay CountyKentucky4.7 mi19,465

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.