Louisville, KY: Population, ZIP Codes & Nearby Cities

Louisville is a large incorporated city in Jefferson County, Kentucky. In the dataset behind this page it has an estimated population of 1,005,654, sits at 38.166°N, 85.648°W, and observes Eastern time. Below you will find how it ranks inside Kentucky, which ZIP codes it uses, the closest places around it, and how far it is from major US cities.

What are the key facts about Louisville, KY?

What is the population of Louisville, KY?

Louisville has an estimated population of 1,005,654. That makes it the largest of the 538 places we list in Kentucky, and the largest place in its county. The typical place in Kentucky has about 814 residents, so Louisville is many dozens of times larger than a typical place in the state.

Estimates for large urban places often reflect the wider urban area served by the same ZIP codes rather than the legal city limits, so the number can exceed the official city count. Our guide to understanding city population numbers explains why sources disagree.

Places in Kentucky with a similar population include Lexington (323,152), Bowling Green (95,135), Elizabethtown (78,002), Owensboro (74,068), Paducah (48,481). Comparing these pages is a quick way to see how Louisville differs from communities of the same scale.

How dense is Louisville?

Louisville has about 2,344 people per square mile (905 per square kilometer), which we classify as suburban. Within Kentucky, it is denser than about 83% of the listed places. Land at this level is usually a mix of single-family neighborhoods, shopping corridors and parks, where driving is common but destinations are close. Read how to interpret population density to see how we draw these lines.

What ZIP codes does Louisville use?

Louisville uses 30 ZIP codes: 40177, 40245, 40241, 40218, 40219, 40214, 40216, 40211, 40213, 40059, 40291, 40299, 40220, 40223, 40222, 40229, 40228, 40023, 40272, 40207, 40209, 40258, 40118, 40018, 40027, 40225, 40261, 40268, 40269, 40281. A long list like this is typical of a large city, where dozens of delivery areas, PO box codes and institutional codes sit inside the same municipality. Codes beginning with 4 are assigned to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio). Learn more in our guide to how ZIP codes work or check any code with the ZIP code lookup.

What time zone is Louisville in?

Louisville is in the Eastern time zone, which is UTC−5 from Coordinated Universal Time in standard time (IANA zone America/New_York). The area observes daylight saving time, so clocks move forward in March and back in November. The nearest listed place in a different time zone is Leitchfield, KY, about 58 miles away, which gives a sense of how far the nearest zone boundary may be. Current local time: see the Eastern time hub. For the rules behind these zones, read US time zones explained.

Where is Louisville located in Kentucky?

Louisville lies in the central part of Kentucky, at 38.166° north latitude and 85.648° west longitude. The state capital, Frankfort, is about 43 miles to the east. The closest listed place in another state is Jeffersonville, IN, roughly 12 miles to the north, which shows how near Louisville is to a state line. For big-city services, the nearest place with more than 100,000 people is Lexington, KY, 65 miles to the east.

Which cities are near Louisville, KY?

The closest listed place to Louisville is Jeffersontown, KY, 5.0 miles to the northeast. Of the eight nearest places below, 6 are in the same county. Distances are straight-line (great-circle) miles measured between place centers; see how distance is calculated.

Which county is Louisville in?

Louisville is in Jefferson County, which has the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code 21111. The county contains 83 places in our data, 7 of which have their own page here and 76 smaller communities that appear only in county and state lists. Other places in the county include Jeffersontown (27,715), St. Matthews (18,105), Shively (15,689), Lyndon (11,423), Middletown (7,877). Codes like this one help separate places that share a name; see the guide to counties and FIPS codes.

How far is Louisville from major US cities?

Among six major hubs, Louisville is closest to Chicago, IL at about 276 miles and farthest from Los Angeles, CA at about 1,839 miles in a straight line. Road distances are usually 10 to 30 percent longer. Try the distance calculator for any other pair.

Are there other places called Louisville?

Yes. Our data lists 9 other places named Louisville: Louisville, CO (20,816), Louisville, OH (9,360), Louisville, MS (5,983), Louisville, TN (4,141), Louisville, GA (2,907), Louisville, NE (1,306), Louisville, IL (1,095), Louisville, AL (462), and 1 more. When you search for Louisville, add the state or county so you land on the right one. This page covers the Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Planning a move to Louisville?

If you are weighing Louisville, start with the practical numbers: how far it is from where you live, whether it changes your time zone, and how its size and density compare with your current city. Use the distance calculator to measure the trip from where you live. See the cities within 50 miles of Louisville to understand the surrounding region. Our checklist for comparing cities explains what to check next.

Where to go next

Population and density come from a compiled dataset and are estimates. They may differ from official Census Bureau counts. Verify important figures at census.gov.