The latest census numbers buck the trend of regionwide population loss. Together, the 15 counties in Kentucky and Tennessee added more than 12,000 residents during those five years.
Two of those counties, Pulaski County in Kentucky and Hawkins County in Tennessee, gained more than 2,000 residents. Campbell, Claiborne and Morgan counties in Tennessee gained more than 1,000 residents.
Pulaski and Hawkins counties are the most populated, each with 60,000 or more residents. Laurel County, Kentucky, also saw growth but is not designated as part of the region.
Laurel County gained more than 1,000 residents from 2020 to 2025, pushing its population past 63,000.
A conference in Berea next week will examine ways to keep people from leaving the region.
In the 60-county region designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission, Pike County lost more residents — about 4,000 — than any except Kanawha County, West Virginia.
Harlan and Perry counties in eastern Kentucky lost 2,000 residents each.
Pike County lost the most residents of the 30 central Appalachian counties in Kentucky.
One of Kentucky’s fastest-growing counties, Madison, is like Laurel County, part of the bigger Appalachian region but not designated as a central Appalachian county.
Madison County added 9,000 residents from 2020 to 2025, pushing its population over 100,000 for the first time. Madison and Laurel counties are both on Interstate 75, while Pulaski is about 30 miles from it.
Madison is home to Eastern Kentucky University and Berea College.
