Madison County, Kentucky

Madison County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 70,872. Its is. The county is named for , who later became the fourth. This is also where famous pioneer lived and built his fort.

It is considered a, meaning that the county prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages (a ), but contains a city where retail alcohol sales are allowed, specifically Richmond (although five of the city's 19 precincts are dry, as Kentucky allows individual precincts in wet cities to vote themselves dry ). Alcohol can also be sold by the drink by the Arlington and Bull Run Golf Clubs. In addition, the Acres of Land Winery is authorized to make and sell wine, and is also allowed to sell beer and wine by the drink at its on-site restaurant.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,148 (443 ). 1,141 km² (441 sq mi) of it is land and 6 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.55%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 70,872 people, 27,152 households, and 18,218 families residing in the county. The was 62/km² (161/sq mi). There were 29,595 housing units at an average density of 26/km² (67/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.01%, 4.44% or , 0.28% , 0.72% , 0.02% , 0.34% from , and 1.19% from two or more races. 0.97% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 27,152 households out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.10% were living together, 10.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.90% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.90.

The age distribution was 21.90% under the age of 18, 18.80% from 18 to 24, 29.40% from 25 to 44, 20.10% from 45 to 64, and 9.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. Both the relatively large 18-to-24 population and the relatively low median age can be explained by the presence of, and to a considerably lesser extent. For every 100 females there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,861, and the median income for a family was $41,383. Males had a median income of $31,974 versus $22,487 for females. The for the county was $16,790. About 12.00% of families and 16.80% of the population were below the, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 17.10% of those age 65 or over.