The Fastest-Shrinking City in Kentucky

Kentucky has a handful of thriving cities revered by locals and tourists alike, but which one is losing the most residents?

Kentucky towns have been a hot topic lately. When it comes to the Commonwealth, we have no shortage of small towns with a few big cities scattered in there too. Everyone has small-town pride nowadays. Recently, we have covered many of these towns in articles such as Kentucky city is one of the most mispronounced places in America, the safest town in Kentucky, a Kentucky city named one of the rudest in America, and one Kentucky city is among the best in the nation for pet owners.

To keep up with the theme of Kentucky towns, there is a list of the fastest-shrinking city in each state from A Lot Travel. The publication says:

For the purposes of this list, we are listing the urbanized areas in each state that are classified as cities and have declining or slowly growing populations. Information within this article has been taken from the US Census Bureau, for simplicity's sake.

Surprisingly, Kentucky's fastest-shrinking city can be found in our neck of the woods. It's a place that practically everyone in the area has been to or at least driven through once or twice.

Henderson: The Fastest-Shrinking City in Kentucky

Sitting along the banks of the Ohio River, Henderson is a thriving city with so much to offer residents in terms of dining, recreational and cultural activities, and a lot of fun events that pop up throughout the year.

However, according to A Lot Travel, the city of Henderson is shrinking. Not literally. The population itself is declining. Here's what A Lot Travel said:

Henderson is renowned for having a long history with trains. Between 1902 and 1971, a lot of well-known and powerful persons traveled through Henderson's Union Station. Some of them were Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, and Franklin Roosevelt. Today, you can observe as commuter trains pass through Henderson's downtown roughly every 30 minutes.
Henderson's population has declined by -0.8% from the most recent census, which showed a population of 27,931, in 2020, and is currently falling at a pace of -0.28% annually. Henderson's population density per square mile is 1,726 and it spans across 18 miles. Last year they lost just over 200 residents.

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Population estimates in 2024 said that Henderson had 27,750 residents with a population change of -1.6% from 2020 to 2024. So the most recent data from the U.S. Census shows that the decline is increasing. But why is that? It's not like Henderson doesn't have a lot going for it. In all honesty, it kind of surprised me that Henderson was the fastest shrinking city in Kentucky. Do you think you have a good answer as to why?