County Maps US

Harlan County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 47 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21095

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

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Population
24,725
-2,027 (-7.6%) since 2020
Land area
465.8
square miles. A further 0.5% of the total area is water
Population density
53.1
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Harlan
Seat of county government.
Established
1819
206 years ago
Largest city
Harlan city
Population 1,822.

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 Harlan 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 Harlan 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 571 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 Harlan 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
Population24,72547th of 1201,630th of 3,144
Land area465.8 sq mi17th of 1202,210th of 3,144
Population density53.1 per sq mi68th of 1201,414th of 3,144
Median household income$41,693104th of 1203,042nd of 3,143

Full data for Harlan County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population24,725Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202026,752Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?26,830Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area465.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area2.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area468.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?53.1 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$41,693American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$73,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age40.9American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households10,731American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units13,036American 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
-199
263 births, 462 deaths
Net migration
-122
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Harlan 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
Lee CountyVirginia45 mi21,642
Leslie CountyKentucky26 mi9,627
Letcher CountyKentucky24 mi19,952
Bell CountyKentucky19 mi22,829
Wise CountyVirginia7.6 mi34,824
Perry CountyKentucky5.3 mi26,555

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.