Richmond topped the list of fastest-growing Kentucky cities from 2020 to 2025.
It isn’t the only Madison County city in the top 10. Berea also grew by 7%, with a population of about 17,000.
Matt Ruther is director of the Kentucky State Data Center at the University of Louisville. He said anchor institutions like Eastern Kentucky University and Berea College matter. Still, one factor stands out.
“Proximity to Lexington is really a big deal here,” he said.
Elizabethtown, Nicholasville, Bowling Green and Georgetown rounded out the top five fastest-growing cities.
The Kentucky State Data Center predicts Richmond will soon surpass Georgetown and Covington to become Kentucky’s fourth-largest city.
Ruther said part of the growth could be due to annexation. Cities such as Richmond have expanded their boundaries in recent years, though it’s not always clear whether that added significantly to their population.
“It's hard to say what growth is happening within the existing footprint, and what is because of annexed land," he said.
Richmond grew at a rate of 15% in the past five years, while Georgetown grew by 8%.
Kentucky’s top 20 fastest-growing cities from 2020 to 2025 also includes Murray, Shelbyville and Somerset. Bowling Green had the biggest population on the list at 78,505.
No city in eastern Kentucky made the list.
