File:Owsley_County_Kentucky_Courthouse.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Owsley County
Sign in to saveAlso known as Owsley County, Kentucky, Owsley County, KY
county in Kentucky, United States
Key facts
- Country
- United States
- State
- Kentucky
- Named after
- William Owsley
- Seat
- Booneville
- Largest city
- Booneville
- Judge executive
- Zeke Little Jr. (R)
- Total
- 198 sq mi (510 km )
- Land
- 197 sq mi (510 km )
- Water
- 0.9 sq mi (2.3 km ) 0.4%
- Estimate 2025
- 3,932
- Density
- 20.6/sq mi (7.94/km )
- Time zone
- UTC−5 ( Eastern )
- Summer dst
- UTC−4 ( EDT )
- Congressional district
- 5th
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Population
- 4051
- Area
- 513
- Official website
- www.owsleycountykentucky.org
- Image
- Owsley County Kentucky Courthouse.jpg
- Households
- 1655
Show 5 more facts
- Commons category
- Owsley County, Kentucky
- inception
- 1843-01-23
- water as percent of area
- 0.4
- native label
- Owsley County
- per capita income
- 18917
Sources (8)
via Wikidata · CC0
~17 min read
Article
Owsley County is a county located in the Eastern Coalfield region of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,051, making it the second-least populous county in Kentucky. The county seat is Booneville. The county was organized on January 23, 1843, from Clay, Estill, and Breathitt counties and named for William Owsley (1782–1862), the judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Governor of Kentucky (1844–48). According to the 2010 census reports, Owsley County has the second-highest level of child poverty of any county in the United States. In terms of income per household, the county is the poorest in the nation. Between 1980 and 2014, the rate of death from cancer in the county increased by 45.6 percent, the largest such increase of any county in the United States.
History