County Maps US

Carter County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 44 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21043

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

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Population
26,149
-465 (-1.7%) since 2020
Land area
409.5
square miles. A further 0.6% of the total area is water
Population density
63.9
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Grayson
Seat of county government.
Established
1838
187 years ago
Largest city
Grayson city
Population 3,728.

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 Carter 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 Carter 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 623 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 Carter 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
Population26,14944th of 1201,577th of 3,144
Land area409.5 sq mi31st of 1202,465th of 3,144
Population density63.9 per sq mi58th of 1201,259th of 3,144
Median household income$51,23580th of 1202,706th of 3,143

Full data for Carter County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population26,149Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202026,614Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?26,631Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area409.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area2.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area412.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?63.9 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$51,235American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$132,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age41.4American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households10,794American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units12,316American 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
-170
253 births, 423 deaths
Net migration
+122
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 Carter 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
Elliott CountyKentucky31 mi7,265
Lewis CountyKentucky27 mi12,901
Greenup CountyKentucky26 mi35,213
Rowan CountyKentucky17 mi24,476
Lawrence CountyKentucky12 mi15,765
Boyd CountyKentucky11 mi47,751

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.