List of cities in Kentucky in the context of "Lexington, Kentucky"

Kentucky (US: /kənˈtʌki/ , UK: /kɛn-/), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, and Missouri to the west. Its northern border is defined by the Ohio River. Its capital is Frankfort and its most populous city is Louisville. As of 2024, the state's population was approximately 4.6 million.

Previously a part of colonial Virginia, Kentucky was admitted into the Union as the fifteenth state on June 1, 1792. It is known as the "Bluegrass State" in reference to Kentucky bluegrass, a species of grass introduced by European settlers, which has long supported the state's thoroughbred horse industry.

Pikeville (/ˈpaɪkvəl/) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Pike County, Kentucky, United States. Its population was 7,754 as of the 2020 census. Pikeville serves as a regional economic, educational, and entertainment hub for the surrounding areas of eastern Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is home to the University of Pikeville and the Pikeville Cut-Through, the second-largest earthmoving project in the Western Hemisphere.

Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by population density, it is the 265th most dense city. Louisville is the historical county seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana state line.

Since 2003, Louisville and Jefferson County have shared the same borders following a city-county merger. The consolidated government is officially called the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, commonly known as Louisville Metro. The term "Jefferson County" is still used in some contexts, especially for incorporated cities outside the "balance" area that defines Louisville proper. The total population of the consolidated area was 782,969 at the 2020 census, while the balance area (excluding other incorporated cities) had a population of 633,045 and is often cited in national statistics. The Louisville metropolitan area, which includes 12 surrounding counties in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, has 1.39 million residents and is the 43rd-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

Paducah (/pəˈduːkə/ pə-DOO-kə) is a home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern United States at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Nashville, Tennessee, to the southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,137, up from 25,024 in 2010. Twenty blocks of the city's downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Paducah is the principal city of the Paducah metropolitan area, which includes McCracken, Ballard, Carlisle and Livingston counties in Kentucky and Massac County in Illinois. The total population of the metro area was 103,481 in 2020. The Paducah–Mayfield combined statistical area had a total population of 140,138.

Frankfort is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a home rule-class city and the seat of Franklin County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,602, making it the 13th largest city in Kentucky and 4th smallest U.S. state capital by population. Located along the Kentucky River in the Upland South, Frankfort is the principal city of the Frankfort, Kentucky micropolitan area, which includes all of Franklin and Anderson counties.

Before Frankfort was founded, the site was a ford across the Kentucky River, along one of the great buffalo trails used as highways in colonial America. English explorers first visited the area in the 1750s. The site evidently received its name after an incident in 1780, when pioneer Stephen Frank was killed in a skirmish with Native Americans; the crossing was named "Frank's Ford" in his memory. In 1786, the Virginia legislature designated 100 acres (40 hectares) as the town of Frankfort and, after Kentucky became a state in 1792, it was chosen as capital.

Florence is a city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States, part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The population was 31,946 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Northern Kentucky, the eighth-most populous city in Kentucky and the state's most populous that is not a county seat. Like all but the state's two most populous cities, Florence is a home rule-class city under Kentucky state law.