Bullitt County

Bullitt County is a county in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky located in the far western Bluegrass region known as the Knobs. The 2020 census estimate is 82,217. The county seat is Shepherdsville whose 2020 census estimate is 14,201. The county was founded in 1796.

Located just south of the City of Louisville, Bullitt County is included in the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, commonly known as Kentuckiana.

The western fifth of the county (40,000 acres (160 km2)) is part of the United States Army post of Fort Knox and is reserved for military training.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 300 square miles (780 km2), of which 297 square miles (770 km2) is land and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km2) (1.1%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

Jefferson County – (north)

Spencer County – (east)

Nelson County – (southeast)

Hardin County – (southwest)

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 74,319 people, 29,318 housing units, and 21,121 families residing in the county. The racial makeup of the county was 96.8% White, 1.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% from other races.

There were 22,171 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6%% were married couples living together and 19.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.03.

In 2017, the median income for a non-family household in the county was $31,643, and the mean income for a family was $69,299. Males had a median income of $48,608 versus $36,688 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,643. About 7.20% of families and 10.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.7% of those under age 18 and 9.30% of those age 65 or over.

Law and Government

There are several police agencies in Bullitt County. The primary law enforcement agency in the county is the Bullitt County Sheriff. The current sheriff of Bullitt County is Walt Sholar. The Sheriff’s Office is an elected position and is staffed by 34 deputy sheriffs, and four office staff. There are also 9 deputies and court certified security officers who provide courthouse security. The Sheriff’s Office provides patrol, crime prevention, criminal investigation; and all other police related functions in the county. The primary areas for the sheriff’s patrol division are the unincorporated areas in Bullitt County they also provide backup for the various city police agencies. Since 1989 the Sheriff’s Office has been contracted by the County Fiscal Court to provide the county police force to the citizens of Bullitt County after the County Police Department was folded. The County Sheriff’s Office has deputies assigned to the drug task force, arson task force, accident reconstruction team, rapid response team, technical operations, ATV squad, boat patrol, hostage negotiations, and an incident command team. Most of the services are provided while on duty or for free by special deputies who serve their county for free, even paying for their own equipment, uniforms, and sidearm.

Fire protection is provided by both Kentucky Chapter 75 and 95 Districts and Departments. Zoneton Fire Protection District, Mt Washington Fire District, and the Shepherdsville Fire Department are currently staffed with a 24-hour professional firefighting staff. Nichols, Southeast Bullitt, and Lebanon Junction are all volunteer based.

The Bullitt County Emergency Medical Service (BCEMS) provides all emergency medical care and transport in Bullitt County. BCEMS is a division of Bullitt County Fiscal Court and authorized and funded by the county through taxes.

Historical Population

Census	Pop.	% +/-
1800	3,542
1810	4,311	21.7%
1820	5,831	35.3%
1830	5,652	-3.1%
1840	6,334	12.1%
1850	6,774	6.9%
1860	7,289	7.6%
1870	7,781	6.7%
1880	8,521	9.5%
1890	8,291	-2.7%
1900	9,602	15.8%
1910	9,487	-1.2%
1920	9,328	-1.7%
1930	8,868	-4.9%
1940	9,511	7.3%
1950	11,349	19.3%
1960	15,726	38.6%
1970	26,090	65.9%
1980	43,346	66.1%
1990	47,567	9.7%
2000	61,236	28.7%
2010	74,319	21.4%
Est. 2018	81,069	9.1%

Economy

Bullitt County, which is bisected by I-65, the main north-south transportation corridor, and Shepherdsville have grown into a thriving distribution hub, and several of its major business parks are approximately 16 miles (26 km) from Louisville International Airport and UPS’ global air-freight hub, Worldport. Tens of millions of square feet of distribution, warehousing, and other complexes have been built and absorbed in Bullitt County since 2000, and construction is ongoing.

Some top employers along those lines include:

Amazon, Inc., Magna Seating of America, Inc., Retail Convergence Company, LP., Gordon Food Service, KMG Fabrication, Inc., Eby-Brown Co., Best Buy Warehousing Logistics, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, etc.

Bullitt County residents have easy access to major job centers such as Elizabethtown, Fort Knox, and Louisville.

Education

Bullitt County is served by Bullitt County Public Schools.

There are 12 elementary schools:

Cedar Grove Elementary

Crossroads Elementary

Freedom Elementary

Lebanon Junction Elementary

Maryville Elementary

Mt. Washington Elementary

Nichols Elementary

Old Mill Elementary

Overdale Elementary

Pleasant Grove Elementary

Roby Elementary

Shepherdsville Elementary

There are six middle schools:

Bernheim Middle School

Bullitt Lick Middle School

Eastside Middle School

Hebron Middle School

Mount Washington Middle School

Zoneton Middle School

There are three high schools:

Bullitt Central High School, located in Shepherdsville

Bullitt East High School, located in Mount Washington

North Bullitt High School, located in Hebron Estates (served by the Shepherdsville post office)

Politics

Bullitt County is generally a Republican county. In February 2018, Linda Belcher (D) reclaimed the Bullitt County district, defeating her GOP opponent 68 percent to 32 percent in a special election, but in the November election, almost 60 percent voted Republican Thomas Huff as the 49th House District Representative.

Year	Republican	Democratic	Third Parties
2018	68.2% – 18,205	29.2% – 7,810	2.6% – 1,517
2016	72.7% – 26,210	22.9% – 8,255	4.4% – 1,604
2012	67.0% – 21,306	31.4% – 9,971	1.6% – 502
2008	65.4% – 20,102	33.1% – 10,177	1.5% – 447
2004	67.9% – 19,433	31.6% – 9,043	0.5% – 151
2000	61.9% – 14,054	36.1% – 8,195	2.0% – 452
1996	47.3% – 8,697	41.6% – 7,651	11.1% – 2,047
1992	40.8% – 7,745	41.3% – 7,830	17.9% – 3,394
1988	59.0% – 8,859	40.0% – 6,005	1.0% – 149
1984	65.1% – 9,556	34.1% – 5,005	0.8% – 115
1980	50.6% – 6,364	46.8% – 5,884	2.6% – 328
1976	38.4% – 3,639	59.3% – 5,623	2.3% – 215
1972	59.8% – 4,517	37.4% – 2,827	2.8% – 209
1968	31.1% – 1,965	33.8% – 2,135	35.0% – 2,210
1964	26.6% – 1,417	73.2% – 3,900	0.2% – 13
1960	52.4% – 2,683	47.6% – 2,437	0.0% – 0
1956	46.8% – 2,007	53.1% – 2,279	0.1% – 4
1952	37.8% – 1,292	62.1% – 2,121	0.2% – 5
1948	27.9% – 673	69.6% – 1,681	2.6% – 62
1944	29.4% – 876	70.3% – 2,092	0.3% – 8
1940	25.4% – 813	74.5% – 2,388	0.2% – 6
1936	20.6% – 647	78.9% – 2,474	0.5% – 15
1932	27.1% – 1,088	72.7% – 2,918	0.2% – 8
1928	50.5% – 1,793	49.5% – 1,758	0.1% – 3
1924	33.0% – 946	62.5% – 1,789	4.5% – 128
1920	35.2% – 1,393	64.4% – 2,548	0.3% – 13
1916	35.3% – 826	64.4% – 1,508	0.3% – 8
1912	10.5% – 209	65.1% – 1,299	24.4% – 487

Kentucky’s US House of Representatives

District	Name	Party	Office Room	Phone	Committee Assignment
1st	Comer, James	R	1037 LHOB	(202) 225-3115	Agriculture, Education and Labor, Oversight and Reform
2nd	Guthrie, S. Brett	R	2434 RHOB	(202) 225-3501	Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce
3rd	Yarmuth, John A.	D	402 CHOB	(202) 225-5401	Budget
4th	Massie, Thomas	R	2453 RHOB	(202) 225-3465	Oversight and Reform, Transportation and Infrastructure
5th	Rogers, Harold	R	2406 RHOB	(202) 225-4601	Appropriations
6th	Barr, Andy	R	2430 RHOB	(202) 225-4706	Financial Services, Veterans’ Affairs

Communities

Cities

Fox Chase	Hebron Estates	Hillview	Hunters Hollow	Lebanon Junction
Mount Washington	Pioneer Village	Shepherdsville (county seat)

Other Unincorporated Communities

Brownington	Clermont	Solitude

Although large-scale residential development has not made its way south of Shepherdsville, the growth is apparent in and around that town and in Mount Washington, as well as points north along I-65 towards Hillview. Both Shepherdsville and Mount Washington have stretched their boundaries such that they are nearly touching each other. The 10-mile (16 km) stretch of Kentucky 44 that connects the two towns has homes through nearly the entire expanse.

For additional Bullitt County and political links, see the Useful Links tab under Resources