County Maps US

Rowan County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 48 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21205

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

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Population
24,476
-238 (-1.0%) since 2020
Land area
279.9
square miles. A further 2.2% of the total area is water
Population density
87.5
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Morehead
Seat of county government.
Established
1856
169 years ago
Largest city
Morehead city
Population 6,776.

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 Rowan 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 Rowan 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 731 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 Rowan 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
Population24,47648th of 1201,638th of 3,144
Land area279.9 sq mi73rd of 1202,849th of 3,144
Population density87.5 per sq mi39th of 1201,012th of 3,144
Median household income$54,32169th of 1202,516th of 3,143

Full data for Rowan County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population24,476Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202024,714Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?24,652Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area279.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area6.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area286.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?87.5 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$54,321American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$161,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age31.7American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households9,592American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units10,623American 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
-20
241 births, 261 deaths
Net migration
-33
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 7 areas bordering Rowan 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
Bath CountyKentucky37 mi13,176
Fleming CountyKentucky26 mi15,787
Morgan CountyKentucky18 mi14,415
Carter CountyKentucky17 mi26,149
Elliott CountyKentucky13 mi7,265
Lewis CountyKentucky13 mi12,901
Menifee CountyKentucky9.8 mi6,430

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.