County Maps US

Mercer County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 50 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21167

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

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Population
23,733
+1,079 (+4.8%) since 2020
Land area
249.4
square miles. A further 1.5% of the total area is water
Population density
95.2
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Harrodsburg
Seat of county government.
Established
1785
240 years ago
Largest city
Harrodsburg city
Population 9,576.

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 Mercer 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 Mercer 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 750 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 Mercer 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
Population23,73350th of 1201,662nd of 3,144
Land area249.4 sq mi84th of 1202,913th of 3,144
Population density95.2 per sq mi35th of 120952nd of 3,144
Median household income$64,82430th of 1201,649th of 3,143

Full data for Mercer County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population23,733Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202022,654Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?22,640Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area249.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area3.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area253.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?95.2 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$64,824American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$202,300American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age42.9American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households9,181American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units10,472American 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
-73
258 births, 331 deaths
Net migration
+310
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 Mercer 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
Woodford CountyKentucky22 mi27,883
Anderson CountyKentucky22 mi25,225
Garrard CountyKentucky16 mi18,207
Washington CountyKentucky16 mi12,368
Boyle CountyKentucky16 mi31,632
Jessamine CountyKentucky5.4 mi57,147

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.