County Maps US

Leslie County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 99 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21131

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

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Population
9,627
-843 (-8.1%) since 2020
Land area
400.9
square miles. A further 0.9% of the total area is water
Population density
24.0
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Hyden
Seat of county government.
Established
1878
147 years ago
Largest city
Hyden city
Population 279.

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 Leslie 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 Leslie 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 592 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 Leslie 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
Population9,62799th of 1202,438th of 3,144
Land area400.9 sq mi33rd of 1202,523rd of 3,144
Population density24.0 per sq mi116th of 1202,094th of 3,144
Median household income$35,934113th of 1203,111th of 3,143

Full data for Leslie County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population9,627Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202010,470Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?10,515Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area400.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area3.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area404.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?24.0 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$35,934American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$69,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age42.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households4,231American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units4,925American 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
-71
88 births, 159 deaths
Net migration
-52
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 4 areas bordering Leslie 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
Perry CountyKentucky54 mi26,555
Clay CountyKentucky27 mi19,465
Harlan CountyKentucky26 mi24,725
Bell CountyKentucky5.6 mi22,829

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.