How it works
This picks a random city in Kentucky from the 411 active cities, with figures from the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates. It opens on the 207 with 1,000 people or more; Any size adds the 204 smaller ones.
Read the full guide
Why the draw opens on the larger cities
Jefferson County, around Louisville, has 82 of the 411 cities, and 58 of them have under 1,000 people; with every size in, one draw in five lands there. Cities stand in 119 of the 120 counties, 38 of which have just one, and the County list holds the 80 with the largest.
Seventeen cities named like another county
Franklin is in Simpson County, while Frankfort, the capital, is in Franklin County. Marion is in Crittenden County, and the city of Crittenden is in Grant County. Corbin's card says mostly in Whitley County, because the city reaches into Knox and Laurel Counties too.
- Only four cities have 50,000 people or more: Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green and Owensboro. Frankfort is fourteenth, with 28,657.
Questions and answers
How many cities are in Kentucky?
Kentucky has 411 active cities. The Census Bureau's 2025 file still carries seven more that were dissolved between 2023 and 2025, Vicco and Poplar Hills among them; those have no card.
Does Kentucky have towns or villages?
No incorporated ones. Every Kentucky municipality in the Census file is a city, whatever its size. Since 2015 the state has had two classes of city: first class, which is Louisville alone, and home rule.
What is the smallest city in Kentucky?
Concord, in Lewis County, with 17 people in the 2025 estimates. Carrsville in Livingston County has 45 and Sardis in Mason County has 61. Eight Kentucky cities have under 100 people.
Is Whitley City a city?
No. Whitley City, the seat of McCreary County, has no city government, and neither does Burlington, the seat of Boone County. They are the only two Kentucky county seats that are not cities, and McCreary County has no city at all.