Demographics & Profile

Kentucky Lakes Area Profile

The Kentucky Lakes Area is made up of Kentucky Lake from Kentucky Dam to Interstate 40, all of Lake Barkley, and Land Between The Lakes. There are ten counties in the area, five each in Kentucky and Tennessee. Those are Livingston, Lyon, Trigg, Marshall and Calloway counties in Kentucky. In Tennessee, the area includes Henry, Stewart, Benton, Houston and Humphreys counties.

Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley are two twin artificial lakes that are very similar in nature.  Kentucky Lake was born in the early 1940s when Kentucky Dam was built at Gilbertsville, Kentucky along the Tennessee River.  Lake Barkley was created in the early 1960s when Barkley Dam was built near Grand Rivers, Kentucky, just two miles east of Kentucky Dam.  A canal was constructed in the 1960s which connected the two lakes.

After the creation of both lakes and the canal, a large peninsula sprung up eight miles in width and nearly 40 miles in length.  This area, formerly known at "Between The Rivers", was acquired by TVA throughout the late 1960s.  Land Between The Lakes was born in 1969 when Rushing Creek Campground was opened.

The heart of Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley is located in a rural but very accessible area approximately 100 miles northwest of Nashville, Tenn., or about 200 miles south of St. Louis, Mo. 

Folks from Nashville can reach the southern part of Kentucky Lake via I-40 in just over an hour.

Kentucky Lake is 184 miles long, while Barkley is a little smaller in width and length. The elevation of the lakes range from 354' to 359', and the general elevation of the area ranges from 320' to 860'.

Local Population

Southern hospitality reigns throughout our region. You'll find many small towns dotted across the ten-county region of the Kentucky Lakes Area with only two towns, Murray, Ky. and Paris, Tenn., with populations exceeding 10,000.

City	2018 Est.	2010 Census	County
Murray, KY	19,348	17,741	Calloway
Paris, TN	10,057	10,156	Henry
Benton, KY	4,469	4,349	Marshall
Waverly, TN	4,080	4,105	Humphreys
Camden, TN	3,575	3,582	Benton
Cadiz, KY	2,665	2,558	Trigg
Eddyville, KY	2,528	2,554	Lyon
Calvert City, KY	2,502	2,566	Marshall
New Johnsonville, TN	1,905	1,905	Humphreys
Dover, TN	1,480	1,417	Stewart
Tennessee Ridge, TN	1,329	1,368	Houston
Erin, TN	1,292	1,324	Houston
Puryear, TN	667	671	Henry
Kuttawa, KY	667	649	Lyon
Hardin, KY	610	615	Marshall
Big Sandy, TN	524	551	Benton
Henry, TN	465	464	Henry
Hazel, KY	407	410	Calloway
Grand Rivers, KY	371	382	Livingston
Cumberland City, TN	308	311	Stewart
Cottage Grove, TN	86	88	Henry

County	2018 Est.	2010 Census	Principle City
Calloway (KY)	39,135	37,191	Murray
Henry (TN)	32,358	32,330	Paris
Marshall (KY)	31,191	31,148	Benton
Lyon (KY)	8,009	8,314	Eddyville
Trigg (KY)	14,643	14,339	Cadiz
Stewart (TN)	13,561	13,324	Dover
Livingston (KY)	9,242	9,519	Grand Rivers
Houston (TN)	8,263	8,426	Erin
Benton (TN)	16,184	16,489	Camden
Humphreys (TN)	18,486	18,538	Waverly

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