Most Native American places in Kentucky research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to research the Kentucky cities with the highest percentage of Native American residents for 2026. The data comes from the American Community Survey 2020-2024 vintage, which breaks down race by origin.
The city with the highest percentage of Native Americans is Fort Wright. 0.48% of people in Fort Wright are Native Americans.
The city with the lowest percentage of Native Americans is Lebanon. 0.00% of people in Lebanon are Native American.
The city with the most Native Americans is Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance). 722 people in Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance) are Native American.
The city with the fewest Native Americans is Lebanon. 0 people in Lebanon are Native American.
The United States has 1,698,432 Native Americans and is 0.51% Native American.
Which city in Kentucky had the largest Native American population? The place with the largest Native American population in Kentucky for 2026 is Fort Wright. 0.48% of Fort Wright identify as Native American.
0.5% Native American · 28 Native American residents
Located in
Kenton County, Kentucky
Fort Wright is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 5,723 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.4% Native American · 81 Native American residents
Located in
Hardin County, Kentucky
Radcliff is a home rule-class city in Hardin County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 21,692 at the 2010 census, and in 2016 the estimated population was 22,490. It is included in the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Metropolitan Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.3% Native American · 31 Native American residents
Located in
Kenton County, Kentucky
Elsmere is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 8,451 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.3% Native American · 19 Native American residents
Central City is a home rule-class city in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 5,978 at the 2010 census. It is also the largest city in the county and the principal community in the Central City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Muhlenberg County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.3% Native American · 20 Native American residents
Located in
Logan County, Kentucky
Russellville is a home rule-class city in Logan County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 6,947 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.3% Native American · 30 Native American residents
Located in
Jefferson County, Kentucky
Lyndon is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 9,369 at the 2000 U.S. census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.2% Native American · 40 Native American residents
Located in
Hopkins County, Kentucky
Madisonville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Kentucky, United States, located along Interstate 69 in the state’s Western Coal Fields region. The population was 19,591 at the 2010 census. Madisonville is a commercial center of the region and is home to Madisonville Community College.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.2% Native American · 30 Native American residents
Located in
Shelby County, Kentucky
Shelbyville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Shelby County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,045 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.2% Native American · 98 Native American residents
Located in
Daviess County, Kentucky
Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 about 107 miles southwest of Louisville, and is the principal city of the Owensboro metropolitan area. The 2016 population was 59,273. The metropolitan population was estimated at 116,506.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.2% Native American · 41 Native American residents
Located in
McCracken County, Kentucky
Paducah is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio Rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Nashville, Tennessee, to the southeast. The population was 24,864 in 2015, down from 25,024 during the 2010 U.S. Census. Twenty blocks of the city’s downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Kentucky’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Kentucky’s Native American population is concentrated
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In Kentucky With The Largest Native American Population For 2026
We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across Kentucky.
We used Saturday Night Science to analyze the Census’s most recently available data, the 2020-2024 American Community Survey data.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- Hispanic or Latino
- White alone
- Black or African American alone
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone
- Asian alone
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone
- Some other race alone
- Two or more races
Our particular column of interest here was the number of people identifying as American Indian and Alaska Native alone.
We limited our analysis to places with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 75 cities.
We then calculated the percentage of residents that are American Indian and Alaska Native. The percentages ranked from 0.48 to 0.00.
Finally, we ranked each city based on the percentage of the American Indian and Alaska Native population, with a higher score being more American Indian and Alaska Native than a lower score. Fort Wright took the distinction of being the most American Indian and Alaska Native, while Lebanon was the least Native American city.
We updated this article for 2026. This article is our eleventh time ranking the cities in Kentucky with the largest Native American population.
The full plate
Most Native American Places In Kentucky
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Native American Population | % Native American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Wright | 5,887 | 28 | 0.5% |
| 2 | Radcliff | 22,864 | 81 | 0.4% |
| 3 | Elsmere | 9,205 | 31 | 0.3% |
| 4 | Central City | 5,707 | 19 | 0.3% |
| 5 | Russellville | 7,316 | 20 | 0.3% |
| 6 | Lyndon | 11,030 | 30 | 0.3% |
| 7 | Madisonville | 19,515 | 40 | 0.2% |
| 8 | Shelbyville | 17,668 | 30 | 0.2% |
| 9 | Owensboro | 60,302 | 98 | 0.2% |
| 10 | Paducah | 26,845 | 41 | 0.2% |
| 11 | Morehead | 6,870 | 10 | 0.1% |
| 12 | Hopkinsville | 30,906 | 44 | 0.1% |
| 13 | Cynthiana | 6,458 | 9 | 0.1% |
| 14 | Winchester | 19,213 | 22 | 0.1% |
| 15 | Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance) | 631,818 | 722 | 0.1% |
| 16 | Mayfield | 9,868 | 10 | 0.1% |
| 17 | Middlesborough | 9,123 | 9 | 0.1% |
| 18 | London | 7,561 | 7 | 0.1% |
| 19 | Richmond | 37,111 | 33 | 0.1% |
| 20 | Murray | 18,080 | 16 | 0.1% |
| 21 | Elizabethtown | 32,576 | 27 | 0.1% |
| 22 | Bowling Green | 75,388 | 52 | 0.1% |
| 23 | Independence | 29,392 | 20 | 0.1% |
| 24 | Franklin | 10,360 | 7 | 0.1% |
| 25 | Berea | 15,786 | 10 | 0.1% |
| 26 | St. Matthews | 17,577 | 11 | 0.1% |
| 27 | Versailles | 10,492 | 6 | 0.1% |
| 28 | Ashland | 21,295 | 12 | 0.1% |
| 29 | Somerset | 12,216 | 6 | 0.0% |
| 30 | Lexington-Fayette urban county | 323,725 | 131 | 0.0% |
| 31 | Dayton | 5,743 | 2 | 0.0% |
| 32 | Campbellsville | 11,622 | 4 | 0.0% |
| 33 | Glasgow | 15,197 | 5 | 0.0% |
| 34 | Frankfort | 28,503 | 8 | 0.0% |
| 35 | Nicholasville | 32,197 | 9 | 0.0% |
| 36 | Covington | 41,110 | 11 | 0.0% |
| 37 | Georgetown | 39,117 | 9 | 0.0% |
| 38 | Bardstown | 13,804 | 3 | 0.0% |
| 39 | Florence | 32,803 | 6 | 0.0% |
| 40 | Henderson | 27,852 | 5 | 0.0% |
| 41 | Monticello | 5,753 | 1 | 0.0% |
| 42 | Mount Washington | 18,480 | 3 | 0.0% |
| 43 | Newport | 13,967 | 1 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Douglass Hills | 5,474 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Edgewood | 8,447 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Erlanger | 19,875 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Flatwoods | 7,269 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Fort Thomas | 17,169 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Middletown | 9,763 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Hillview | 8,797 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Highland Heights | 6,444 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Danville | 17,327 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Jeffersontown | 29,199 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | La Grange | 10,311 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Lawrenceburg | 11,943 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Leitchfield | 6,819 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Harrodsburg | 9,313 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Corbin | 8,246 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Bellevue | 5,636 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Maysville | 8,737 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Fort Mitchell | 8,713 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Mount Sterling | 7,551 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Alexandria | 10,562 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Paris | 10,160 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Shively | 15,638 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Oak Grove | 7,962 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Williamsburg | 5,270 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Taylor Mill | 6,937 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Princeton | 6,241 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Villa Hills | 7,480 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Pikeville | 7,490 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Shepherdsville | 14,533 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Union | 7,642 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Cold Spring | 6,341 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 59 | Lebanon | 6,430 | 0 | 0.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, table B03002. 75 Kentucky cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Native American Populations Across Kentucky
If you’re looking for a breakdown of Native American populations across Kentucky according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.
The most Native American cities in Kentucky are Fort Wright, Radcliff, Elsmere, Central City, Russellville, Lyndon, Madisonville, Shelbyville, Owensboro, and Paducah. Not sold on Kentucky? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Native American Population In Kentucky FAQs
What city in Kentucky has the highest share of Native American residents?
Fort Wright has the highest share of Native American residents in Kentucky for 2026, at 0.48% of the population. Radcliff and Elsmere are next.
What city in Kentucky has the most Native American residents overall?
Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance) has the most Native American residents in Kentucky, with 722 people. That is the raw count; Fort Wright leads on share of population.
What are the top Native American communities in Kentucky?
The Kentucky places with the highest Native American population shares are Fort Wright, Radcliff, Elsmere, Central City, Russellville, Lyndon, Madisonville, Shelbyville, Owensboro, and Paducah. We ranked all 75 places with more than 5,000 residents.
How many Native Americans live in the United States?
The United States has 1,698,432 residents identifying as American Indian and Alaska Native, which is 0.51% of the country. The share in Fort Wright runs far above that national mark.
Where does this data come from?
Every number comes from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2020-2024), table B03002, based on residents identifying as American Indian and Alaska Native. We rank each Kentucky place with more than 5,000 residents.
