Lexington-Fayette Urban County | |
|---|---|
 Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Complex in Lexington | |
 Seal | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofKentucky | |
 Kentucky's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:38°02′N84°28′W / 38.04°N 84.46°W /38.04; -84.46 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Kentucky |
| Founded | 1780 |
| Named after | Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette |
| Seat | Lexington |
| Largest city | Lexington |
| Area | |
• Total | 286 sq mi (740 km2) |
| • Land | 284 sq mi (740 km2) |
| • Water | 1.9 sq mi (4.9 km2) 0.7% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 322,570 |
• Estimate (2024) | 329,437 |
| • Density | 1,140/sq mi (439/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional district | 6th |
| Website | www |
Fayette County is acounty located in the central part of theU.S. state ofKentucky and isconsolidated with the city ofLexington. As of the2020 census, the population was 322,570,[1] making it the second-most populous county in thecommonwealth. Since 1974, its territory, population andgovernment have been shared with Lexington.[2] Fayette County is part of theLexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Fayette County—originallyFayette County, Virginia—was established by theVirginia General Assembly in June 1780, when it abolished and subdividedKentucky County into three counties: Fayette,Jefferson andLincoln. Together, these counties and those set off from them later in that decade separated from Virginia in 1792 to become the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Originally, Fayette County included land which makes up 37 present-day counties and parts of 7 others. It was reduced to its present boundaries in 1799. The county is named for theMarquis de LaFayette, who moved to the United States to support the colonies rebelling against British rule during theAmerican Revolutionary War.[3][4]
On January 1, 1974, Fayette County merged its government with that of itscounty seat ofLexington, creating aconsolidated city-county governed by theLexington-Fayette Urban County Government.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 286 square miles (740 km2), of which 284 square miles (740 km2) is land and 1.9 square miles (4.9 km2) (0.7%) is water.[5]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | 18,410 | — | |
| 1800 | 14,028 | −23.8% | |
| 1810 | 21,370 | 52.3% | |
| 1820 | 23,250 | 8.8% | |
| 1830 | 25,098 | 7.9% | |
| 1840 | 22,194 | −11.6% | |
| 1850 | 22,735 | 2.4% | |
| 1860 | 22,599 | −0.6% | |
| 1870 | 26,656 | 18.0% | |
| 1880 | 29,023 | 8.9% | |
| 1890 | 35,698 | 23.0% | |
| 1900 | 42,071 | 17.9% | |
| 1910 | 47,715 | 13.4% | |
| 1920 | 54,664 | 14.6% | |
| 1930 | 68,543 | 25.4% | |
| 1940 | 78,899 | 15.1% | |
| 1950 | 100,746 | 27.7% | |
| 1960 | 131,906 | 30.9% | |
| 1970 | 174,323 | 32.2% | |
| 1980 | 204,165 | 17.1% | |
| 1990 | 225,366 | 10.4% | |
| 2000 | 260,512 | 15.6% | |
| 2010 | 295,803 | 13.5% | |
| 2020 | 322,570 | 9.0% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 329,437 | [6] | 2.1% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[7] 1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9] 1990-2000[10] 2010-2020[1] | |||
As of thecensus[11] of 2010, there were 295,803 people, 123,043 households, and 69,661 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,034 inhabitants per square mile (399/km2). There were 135,160 housing units at an average density of 473 per square mile (183/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 75.7%White, 14.5%Black orAfrican American, 0.3%Native American, 3.2%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 3.7% fromother races, and 2.5% from two or more races. 6.9% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 123,043 households, out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% weremarried couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.3 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.2% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 21, and 62.4% from 21 to 65. 10.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.7 years. 50.8% of the population was female.
The median income for a household in the county was $47,469, and the median income for a family was $66,690. Males had a median income of $44,343 versus $35,716 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $28,345. About 11.1% of families and 17.4% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.
Schools in the county are operated byFayette County Public Schools.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1880 | 2,830 | 53.20% | 2,449 | 46.03% | 41 | 0.77% |
| 1884 | 3,000 | 53.19% | 2,593 | 45.98% | 47 | 0.83% |
| 1888 | 3,301 | 48.13% | 3,435 | 50.08% | 123 | 1.79% |
| 1892 | 2,431 | 37.19% | 3,753 | 57.42% | 352 | 5.39% |
| 1896 | 5,143 | 55.54% | 3,938 | 42.53% | 179 | 1.93% |
| 1900 | 5,302 | 54.78% | 4,293 | 44.36% | 83 | 0.86% |
| 1904 | 3,947 | 42.87% | 5,119 | 55.60% | 141 | 1.53% |
| 1908 | 4,748 | 46.76% | 5,247 | 51.68% | 158 | 1.56% |
| 1912 | 4,060 | 37.80% | 5,268 | 49.04% | 1,414 | 13.16% |
| 1916 | 5,472 | 45.95% | 6,348 | 53.30% | 89 | 0.75% |
| 1920 | 11,032 | 45.70% | 12,926 | 53.55% | 181 | 0.75% |
| 1924 | 11,755 | 52.20% | 10,433 | 46.33% | 331 | 1.47% |
| 1928 | 16,988 | 65.11% | 9,065 | 34.74% | 39 | 0.15% |
| 1932 | 11,847 | 42.51% | 15,765 | 56.57% | 257 | 0.92% |
| 1936 | 11,544 | 44.10% | 14,428 | 55.12% | 203 | 0.78% |
| 1940 | 12,514 | 44.01% | 15,834 | 55.69% | 84 | 0.30% |
| 1944 | 10,857 | 44.14% | 13,567 | 55.15% | 174 | 0.71% |
| 1948 | 10,959 | 41.91% | 13,202 | 50.49% | 1,988 | 7.60% |
| 1952 | 17,376 | 54.66% | 14,275 | 44.91% | 138 | 0.43% |
| 1956 | 21,904 | 61.38% | 13,547 | 37.96% | 232 | 0.65% |
| 1960 | 25,169 | 60.43% | 16,478 | 39.57% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1964 | 18,739 | 42.40% | 25,317 | 57.29% | 136 | 0.31% |
| 1968 | 24,948 | 49.53% | 16,902 | 33.55% | 8,523 | 16.92% |
| 1972 | 42,362 | 66.54% | 19,828 | 31.14% | 1,476 | 2.32% |
| 1976 | 35,170 | 54.12% | 28,012 | 43.10% | 1,807 | 2.78% |
| 1980 | 35,349 | 49.22% | 30,511 | 42.48% | 5,957 | 8.29% |
| 1984 | 51,993 | 63.60% | 28,961 | 35.43% | 792 | 0.97% |
| 1988 | 48,065 | 58.96% | 32,554 | 39.93% | 906 | 1.11% |
| 1992 | 41,908 | 43.87% | 38,306 | 40.10% | 15,320 | 16.04% |
| 1996 | 42,930 | 46.33% | 43,632 | 47.09% | 6,102 | 6.59% |
| 2000 | 54,495 | 51.67% | 47,277 | 44.82% | 3,705 | 3.51% |
| 2004 | 66,406 | 52.88% | 57,994 | 46.18% | 1,176 | 0.94% |
| 2008 | 59,884 | 46.91% | 66,042 | 51.74% | 1,722 | 1.35% |
| 2012 | 60,795 | 48.30% | 62,080 | 49.32% | 2,991 | 2.38% |
| 2016 | 56,894 | 41.74% | 69,778 | 51.19% | 9,643 | 7.07% |
| 2020 | 58,860 | 38.49% | 90,600 | 59.25% | 3,452 | 2.26% |
| 2024 | 57,347 | 39.84% | 83,387 | 57.93% | 3,201 | 2.22% |
For much of the 20th century, Fayette County leaned more Republican than Kentucky as a whole. Between1952 and2004, it voted for theRepublican nominee all but twice, forLyndon B. Johnson in 1964 andBill Clinton in 1996, with the latter only carrying the county by a narrow plurality. Even Southern DemocratJimmy Carter lost the county by 11 points in 1976, despite winning Kentucky by a comfortable margin.
Until the mid-2000s, it did not swing as heavily to the Democrats as other urban counties. From 1992 to 2016, it was a swing county with close results between the two parties. In2008,Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win the county sinceBill Clinton in 1996, and the first Democrat to win a majority of its votes since Johnson. In2016,Hillary Clinton won the county by the largest margin since Johnson, although it was one of only two counties in the entire Commonwealth to vote for her, the other beingJefferson County, home to the city ofLouisville.
In 2020,Joe Biden turned in the strongest showing for a Democrat in the county in over a century, bettering evenFranklin D. Roosevelt. In that year, Fayette County was the most Democratic county in the Commonwealth, giving Biden a slightly larger margin than Jefferson County, marking the first time since1948 that Fayette County voted to the left of Jefferson County in a presidential election. This marked the first time that Fayette County was the most Democratic county in the state in Kentucky history. With nearly 60% of the vote, Biden received the highest percentage of the vote in the county of any Democratic candidate in history. Also in 2020,Donald Trump received the lowest portion of the vote for any Republican candidate in the county sinceWilliam Howard Taft in1912.
The county voted "No" on2022 Kentucky Amendment 2, an anti-abortion ballot measure, by 73% to 27%, outpacing its support ofJoe Biden during the2020 presidential election.[14]
| Elected officials as of January 3, 2025[15][16] | ||
| U.S. House | Andy Barr (R) | KY 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Ky. Senate | Amanda Mays Bledsoe (R) | 12 |
| Reginald Thomas (D) | 13 | |
| Matt Nunn (R) | 17 | |
| Donald Douglas (R) | 22 | |
| Stephen West (R) | 27 | |
| Greg Elkins (R) | 28 | |
| Jared Carpenter (R) | 34 | |
| Ky. House | Matt Lockett (R) | 39 |
| Adam Moore (D) | 45 | |
| Ryan Dotson (R) | 73 | |
| Lindsey Burke (D) | 75 | |
| Anne Donworth (D) | 76 | |
| George Brown Jr. (D) | 77 | |
| Chad Aull (D) | 79 | |
| Vanessa Grossl (R) | 88 | |
| Adrielle Camuel (D) | 93 | |
| Central city |  | |
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| Municipalities with population under 5,000 | ||
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38°02′N84°28′W / 38.04°N 84.46°W /38.04; -84.46
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