Paducah, Kentucky

Paducah, Kentucky
Broadway, Paducah Downtown Commercial District
Interactive map of Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah
Paducah
Coordinates: 37°4′20″N 88°37′39″W / 37.07222°N 88.62750°W / 37.07222; -88.62750
CountryUnited States
StateKentucky
CountyMcCracken
Settledc. 1821
Established1830
Incorporated1838
Named afterthe Chickasaw Tribe
Government
 • TypeCity Manager
 • MayorGeorge Bray
 • City CommissionersSandra Wilson. Raynarldo Henderson, Robert Smith, Dujuan Thomas
Area
 • City
20.75 sq mi (53.74 km2)
 • Land20.31 sq mi (52.59 km2)
 • Water0.44 sq mi (1.15 km2)
Elevation
341 ft (104 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • City
27,137
 • Estimate 
(2023)
27,205
 • Density1,336.6/sq mi (516.06/km2)
 • Metro
103,481
DemonymPaducahan
Time zoneUTC−6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP Code
42001-42002-42003
Area codes270 & 364
FIPS code21-58836
GNIS feature ID0500106
Websitepaducahky.gov

Paducah (/pəˈdkə/ pə-DOO-kə) is a city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern United States at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Nashville, Tennessee, to the southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,137, up from 25,024 in 2010. Twenty blocks of the city's downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Paducah is the principal city of the Paducah metropolitan area, which includes McCracken, Ballard, Carlisle and Livingston counties in Kentucky and Massac County in Illinois. The total population of the metro area was 103,481 in 2020. The Paducah–Mayfield combined statistical area had a total population of 140,138. Paducah is a home-rule class city under Kentucky law.