Fayette County is located in the central part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous county in the

commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

. Its territory, population and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

are coextensive with the city of Lexington, which also serves as the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

. Fayette County is part of the Lexington–Fayette, KY

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

History

Fayette County—originally Fayette County, Virginia—was established by the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

in June 1780, when it abolished and subdivided

Kentucky County Kentucky County (then alternately spelled Kentucke County) was formed by the Commonwealth of Virginia from the western portion (beyond the Cumberland Mountains) of Fincastle County effective December 31, 1776. The name of the county was taken ...

into three counties: Fayette,

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. 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 the

Marquis de LaFayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

, who came to America to support the rebelling English colonies in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. On January 1, 1974, Fayette County merged its government with that of its

of Lexington, creating a

consolidated city-county In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county ( parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it has the governmental powers o ...

governed by the

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.7%) is water.

Major highways

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...

U.S. Route 25 U.S. Route 25 (US 25) is a north–south United States Highway that runs for in the southern and midwestern US. Its southern terminus is in Brunswick, Georgia, from where it proceeds mostly due north, passing through the cities of Augusta, Georg ...

U.S. Route 27 U.S. Route 27 (US 27) is a north–south United States Highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 (I-69) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. F ...

* U.S. Route 60 * U.S. Route 68 *

U.S. Route 421 U.S. Route 421 (also U.S. Highway 421, US 421) is a diagonal northwest–southeast United States Numbered Highway in the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. The highway runs for from Fort Fisher, North Caro ...

* Kentucky Route 4, a.k.a.

New Circle Road New Circle Road, also known as Kentucky Route 4, is a Kentucky state highway that serves as an inner beltway around Lexington, which is part of the consolidated city-county government with Fayette County. The state designates the start and fin ...

Adjacent counties

* Scott County (north) * Bourbon County (northeast) * Clark County (east) * Madison County (south) * Jessamine County (south) * Woodford County (west)

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2010, there were 295,803 people, 123,043 households, and 69,661 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 1,034 people per square mile (399/km²). There were 135,160 housing units at an average density of 473 per square mile (182/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 75.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 14.5%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.3% Native American, 3.2%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 3.7% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.5% from two or more races. 6.9% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

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% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

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. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $28,345. About 11.1% of families and 17.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public high schools

Schools in the county are operated by Fayette County Public Schools. *

Henry Clay High School Henry Clay High School is an American public high school in Lexington, Kentucky. Opened on Main Street in 1928, it was named in honor of the Kentuckian and United States statesman, Henry Clay. The Main Street location now houses the main offices ...

* Paul Laurence Dunbar High School * Frederick Douglass High School *

Bryan Station High School Bryan Station High School, founded in 1958, is a high school within the Fayette County Public Schools system in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. During the 2006–2007 school year, students were moved to their newly built school known as Brya ...

* Lafayette High School *

Tates Creek High School Tates Creek High School (TCHS) is a public school in Lexington, Kentucky. The school is one of six high schools in the Fayette County Public Schools district. History Tates Creek High School was built, and founded in 1965 as the last of three sc ...

STEAM Academy

Private middle and elementary schools

The Lexington School
*

Sayre School Sayre School is an independent, private, co-educational school in Lexington, Kentucky, US. The school enrolls 610 students from age two through twelfth grade. It has 68 full-time faculty members. History David A. Sayre, a New Jersey silversmith ...

* Lexington Christian Academy
Christ the King School

Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary School

Saints Peter and Paul School

Seton Catholic School

Blue Grass Baptist School

Redwood Cooperative School

Private high schools

Lexington Catholic High School Lexington Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in the Rosemill neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington. In 2007, it was named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Histor ...

* Lexington Christian Academy *

* Trinity Christian Academy
Blue Grass Baptist School

Colleges and universities

Bluegrass Community and Technical College Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) is a public community college in Lexington, Kentucky. It is one of sixteen two-year, open admission colleges of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). It was formed from th ...

* Indiana Wesleyan University (Lexington campus) *

ITT Technical Institute ITT Technical Institute (ITT Tech) was a private for-profit technical institute with its headquarters in Carmel, Indiana and many campuses throughout the United States. Founded in 1969 and growing to 130 campuses in 38 states of the United State ...

* Lexington Theological Seminary * Midway College (Lexington campus) * National College of Business & Technology *

Spencerian College Spencerian College was a private, for-profit career college in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1892 as the Spencerian Commercial School, a private for-profit business school, by Enos ...

* Sullivan University *

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Politics

For much of the 20th century, Fayette County leaned more Republican than Kentucky as a whole. Between 1952 and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, it voted for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee all but twice, for

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

in 1964 and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

in 1996, with the latter only carrying the county by a narrow plurality. Even Southern Democrat

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

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. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

became the first Democrat to win the county since

in 1996, and the first to Democrat to win a majority of its votes since LBJ. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

won the county by the biggest margin since LBJ, although it was one of only two counties in the entire Commonwealth to vote for her, the other being Jefferson County, home to the city of

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. In 2020, Joe Biden turned in the strongest showing for a Democrat in the county in over a century, bettering even

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. 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 since 1948 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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

received the lowest portion of the vote for any Republican candidate in the county since

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

Communities

Cities

* Lexington

Unincorporated communities

* Andover *

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

* Clays Ferry * Colby (partly in Clark County) * Little Texas * South Elkhorn * Spears (partly in Jessamine County) * Todds Station

Historically black hamlets

* Bracktown * Cadentown * Jimtown * Smithtown * Little Georgetown * Pralltown

References

External links

Kentucky State Data Center

Lexington Area Metropolitan Planning Organization

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government

Fayette County Prosecutor's Office

Fayette County Sheriff's Office
{{authority control Kentucky counties Lexington–Fayette metropolitan area 1780 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1780 Former counties of Virginia