Lexington is a city located in Fayette County Kentucky. With a 2020 population of 324,604, it is the 2nd largest city in Kentucky (after Louisville) and the 61st largest city in the United States . Lexington is currently growing at a rate of 0.22% annually and its population has increased by 9.74% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 295,803 in 2010. Lexington reached it's highest population of 324,604 in 2021. Spanning over 286 miles, Lexington has a population density of 1,144 people per square mile.
The average household income in Lexington is $83,111 with a poverty rate of 16.81%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $896 per month, and the median house value is $189,800. The median age in Lexington is 34.6 years, 33.5 years for males, and 35.6 years for females.
Lexington is a city located in Fayette County in Kentucky. Lexington is known as “Horse Capital of the World” and the Kentucky Horse Park, The Red Mile, and Keeneland racecourses are all located in Lexington.
Lexington Diversity and Language
According to the 2010 United States census, Lexington was 75.7% white, 14.5% African American, 3.2% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 1.21% of other races, and 2.5% from two or more races.
According to the Lexington government, There are over 185 languages spoken in Lexington, with the top ten foreign languages being Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Japanese, Nepali, French, Mandarin, Kinyarwanda, Korean and Portuguese in addition to the official language, English. The largest of these languages is Spanish, which is spoken by 6.2% of the population.
Lexington Population Growth
The Lexington metro area grew by 7.1% from 2010 to 2016, more than the national average growth rate of 4.5%. Lexington’s average annual growth rate is about 1.1%. According to the Census Bureau, this can be attributed to domestic migration and international immigration and a higher birth-to-death ratio.
Lexington’s population saw the largest growth from 1970 to 1980, where the population grew over 96,000 from 108,137 to 204,165.
Lexington was first founded in June of 1775 by European-American frontiersmen. Upon hearing of the news of colonist victory in the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the frontiersmen decided to name the land Lexington. The area of modern-day Lexington was originally considered to be part of Fincastle County, Virginia. Seventeen years later, Kentucky would become a state.
In 1780, Lexington was made the seat of the newly organized Fayette County in Virginia. The town was chartered on May 6, 1782, by the Virginia legislature. Kentucky became a state in 1790, and the first session of the Kentucky legislature was held in Lexington in 1792.
Horseracing was prohibited in Lexington until 1788, and from then on, the devotion to horse racing has remained a passion in Lexington. The American Thoroughbred Breeders Association has its headquarters in Lexington. Lexington has several horseracing and sales facilities, as well as museums of horses and the sport.
In 1865, the University of Kentucky and Lexington Theological Seminary were founded.
During the Great Depression, the Addiction Research Center (ARC) was created at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Lexington and was one of the first drug rehabilitation clinics in the United States.