US church locations from public map data: church office contacts, fields, by-state counts and prices.
How many churches are in Kentucky?
Kentucky had 8,143 congregations of all faiths in the 2020 U.S. Religion Census (Grammich et al., Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, 2022). The census counts each congregation once, as its religious body reported it.
Overture Maps places (release of 2026-09-23) lists ~9,800 church locations in Kentucky, 20% above the census figure; Kentucky is number 23 of 51 (states and DC) by the size of that gap in percentage terms. Fewer Kentucky listings are marked open than the US share (79%, against 83%), so stale listings with no status are part of the difference, along with churches listed twice. The map count is number 17 of 51 and 2.2% of the US. Per resident Kentucky ranks high: 212.3 church locations per 100,000 residents, number 7 of 51, against a US rate of 129.3.
The 2020 U.S. Religion Census counted 8,143 congregations of all faiths in Kentucky.
8,143Overture Maps lists ~9,800 church locations in Kentucky, number 17 of 51 (states and DC).
~9,800Kentucky has 212.3 church locations per 100,000 residents, number 7 of 51.
212.3Louisville has 11% of Kentucky's church locations, nearly three times Lexington's count.
11%Order this list
Where churches in Kentucky are
Louisville has 11% of Kentucky's church locations, nearly three times as many as Lexington. After those two, no city has even a fifth of Louisville's count; Bowling Green is third.
| City | Listed on public maps |
|---|---|
| Louisville | ~1,000 |
| Lexington | ~380 |
| Bowling Green | ~190 |
| Owensboro | ~160 |
| Paducah | ~150 |
| Hopkinsville | ~130 |
| Somerset | ~130 |
| London | ~120 |
| Richmond | ~120 |
| Frankfort | ~110 |
| Ashland | ~100 |
| Corbin | ~90 |
| Nicholasville | ~90 |
| Winchester | ~90 |
| Campbellsville | ~90 |
Counts are rounded.
Western Kentucky adds Owensboro, Paducah and Hopkinsville. The southeast, where towns are small, still puts Somerset, London and Corbin in the top 15, and Frankfort, the state capital, is there too. The Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati, such as Covington, are not. The 15 cities hold 31% of the state's church locations, so about seven in ten are elsewhere.
Kentucky compared with the US
Kentucky's named tags follow the national order: Baptist, then Roman Catholic, then Pentecostal. The Baptist row is large; it is close to half the size of the generic "Christian, tradition not given" row.
Map category tags, not denominational shares.
| Category | Places |
|---|---|
| Christian, tradition not given | ~5,900 |
| Baptist | ~2,700 |
| Religious organization with a worship name | ~560 |
| Roman Catholic | ~300 |
| Pentecostal | ~230 |
| Anglican or Episcopal | ~60 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | ~20 |
| Protestant, denomination not given | ~20 |
Counts are rounded.
Kentucky's listings name a website less often than the US average: 66%, against 77%.
Questions about churches in Kentucky
How many churches are in Kentucky? By the 2020 U.S. Religion Census, 8,143 congregations of all faiths. Public maps list ~9,800 church locations, a higher count of listings that includes some closed churches and repeats.
Which Kentucky city has the most churches? Louisville, with 11% of the state's church locations. Lexington is second and Bowling Green third.
Why does Louisville have so many more churches than Lexington? A city row on the map takes every listing whose address names that city, and addresses across much of Jefferson County probably give Louisville as their city.
Can I get a Kentucky church email list? Yes. You can order Kentucky churches as a state file from the order panel on this page. It has one row per church location: phone, website and, where the church publishes one, its email with the page it came from. We update and verify your list when you order, so you receive a fresh list. Delivered within 24 hours, usually much sooner.
Sources for Kentucky
| Figure | Source | File or publication date |
|---|---|---|
| Congregations of all faiths in Kentucky | 2020 U.S. Religion Census (Grammich et al., ASARB), 2020_USRC_Summaries.xlsx | Data year 2020; published 2022; file dated June 2023 |
| Kentucky church locations, rank, share, cities, map tags, open and website shares | Overture Maps places, release 2026-09-23.1 | 2026-09-23 |
| Church locations per 100,000 residents and their rank | Overture Maps places; US Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population | 2026-09-23; July 1, 2025 |
| Map count against the census figure, and its rank | Our comparison of the census and map counts for the 50 states and DC | 2026-10-03 |
What these numbers don't show
Rural churches with no listing. Some small country churches are not on the map at all.
Which listings are closed. A listing with no status may be out of date.
Baptist associations. The tag doesn't say which body a Baptist church belongs to.
Attendance. Every listing counts once.
LimitsDownload the data
churches-register-2026-10.csvCSVCC BY 4.02026-10-03
nodilist.com, "How many churches are in Kentucky?", church locations from Overture Maps places release 2026-09-23.1 with the 2020 U.S. Religion Census congregation count, https://nodilist.com/churches/kentucky/.
- churches-register-2026-10.csv: map counts of church locations for Kentucky and the other states and DC, with rates per 100,000 residents, shares of the US and ranks.
Census figures are left out of the CSV because ASARB holds their copyright. Contains data from Overture Maps Foundation, licensed under CDLA Permissive 2.0.