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City in Kentucky, United States

Lexington is the second most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky (after Louisville), and the 60th most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Fayette County. By land area, it is the country's 30th largest city. Lexington is known as the "Horse Capital of the World". It is within the state's Bluegrass region. Notable locations within the city include the Kentucky Horse Park, The Red Mile and Keeneland race courses, Rupp Arena, Central Bank Center, Transylvania University, the University of Kentucky, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Headquarters. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, anchoring a metropolitan area of 516,811 people and a combined statistical area of 747,919 people. Lexington is consolidated entirely within Fayette County, and vice versa. It has a nonpartisan mayor council form of government, with 12 council districts and three members elected at large, with the highest vote getter designated vice mayor.

The Lexington Fayette metro area includes five additional counties: Clark, Jessamine, Bourbon, Woodford, and Scott. This is the second largest metro area in Kentucky after Louisville. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of of it is land and of it (0.35%) is covered by water.

Lexington features a diverse cityscape.

Lexington has had to manage a rapidly growing population while working to maintain the character of the surrounding horse farms that give the region its identity. In 1958, Lexington enacted the nation's first urban growth boundary, restricting new development to an urban service area (USA). It set a minimum area requirement of to maintain open space for landholdings in the rural service area. In 1980, the comprehensive plan was updated: the USA was modified to include urban activity centers (UACs) and rural activity centers (RACs). The UACs were commercial and light industrial districts in urbanized areas, while RACs were retail trade and light industrial centers clustered around the Interstate 64/Interstate 75 interchanges. In 1996, the USA was expanded when of the RSA were acquired through the expansion area master plan (EAMP). with hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters with occasional mild periods; it falls in USDA hardiness zone 6b. The city and the surrounding Bluegrass region have four distinct seasons that include cool plateau breezes; moderate nights in the summer; and no prolonged periods of heat, cold, rain, wind, or snow. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July, while the annual mean temperature is .

The Lexington Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Jessamine, Scott, and Woodford Counties. The MSA population is 516,811 as of the 2020 census. The Lexington–Fayette–Richmond–Frankfort combined statistical area had a population of 747,919 in 2020. This includes the metro area and an additional seven counties.

The Kentucky Wildcats, the athletic program of the University of Kentucky, is Lexington's most popular sports entity. The school fields 22 varsity sports teams, most of which compete in the Southeastern Conference as a founding member. The men's basketball team is one of the winningest programs in NCAA history, having won eight national championships. The basketball program was also the first to reach 2000 wins.

Lexington is home to the Lexington Legends, a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent MLB Partner league. The minor league team plays home games at The Ballpark at 207 Legends Lane. In 2020, the team lost MLB affiliation under a new plan by the MLB. The city also hosts Lexington SC of third division professional soccer league USL League One. The club was founded in 2021 and currently plays at Toyota Stadium on the campus of Georgetown College. In October 2023, Lexington SC announced it would be building a new stadium on their youth training ground off of Athens Boonesboro Road. It will be open by 2024, with a capacity for 5,000 fans, with up to 11,000 possible. Former professional sport teams based in Lexington were the Kentucky Thoroughblades, Lexington Men O' War, Lexington Bluegrass Bandits, Kentucky Horsemen, Bluegrass Warhorses, Bluegrass Stallions, Lexington Colts, and Lexington Counter Clocks.

The city is home to two horse racing tracks, Keeneland and The Red Mile harness track. Keeneland, sporting live races in April and October, is steeped in tradition; little has changed since the track's opening in 1936. Keeneland hosted the 2015 Breeders' Cup, with the event's signature race, the Breeders' Cup Classic, won by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. This track also has the world's largest Thoroughbred auction house; 19 Kentucky Derby winners, 21 Preakness Stakes winners, and 18 Belmont Stakes winners were purchased at Keeneland sales. Its most notable race is the Blue Grass Stakes, which is considered an important preparation for the Kentucky Derby. The Red Mile is the oldest horse racing track in the city and the second oldest in the nation. It runs live harness races, in which horses pull two wheeled carts called sulkies. The two tracks announced a partnership in 2014. The Kentucky Horse Park, located along scenic Iron Works Pike in northern Fayette County, is a comparative latecomer to Lexington, opening in 1978. Although commonly known as a tourist attraction and museum, it is also a working horse farm with a farrier and famous retired horses such as 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide. Since its opening in April 1978, the Kentucky Horse Park has hosted the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, which is one of the top three annual equestrian eventing competitions in the world and is held immediately before the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville. In September and October 2010, Lexington was the first city outside of Europe to host the World Equestrian Games.

Lexington is home to Roller Derby of Central Kentucky and Lexington Bike Polo League. In 2017, Lexington hosted the World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship, the most competitive bike polo tournament in the world, at facilities in Coolavin Park. Two years prior the city hosted the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship for teams from across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. In 2023, Roller Derby of Central Kentucky returned to competitive play at Central Bank Center after a three year hiatus. The Dirt Bowl is a long standing local basketball tournament held by Lexington Parks and Recreation at Douglass Park. The league has been around since the early 1970s. Sports Illustrated covered it in 1983 and called it one of the premier summer leagues in the country at the time. The basketball courts at Douglass Park were originally dirt, giving the tournament its "Dirt Bowl" name. The courts have since been paved.

The city is home to Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, a nature preserve along the Kentucky River Palisades.

Most Lexington Fayette Urban County Government meetings are open to the public. Council meetings are held Thursdays at 6 p. m. at the LFUCG Government Center at 200 East Main Street.

Lexington has three main active judicial courts in its downtown district. It is served by Fayette Circuit Court, Fayette District Court, and US District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky Lexington Division.

According to the United States Census, of Lexington's population over the age of 25, 22.4% hold a bachelor's degree, 11.4% hold a master's degree, 3.1% hold a professional degree, and 2.6% hold a doctoral degree. The city is served by the Fayette County Public Schools. The system currently consists of six district high schools, along with multiple smaller multidistrict high schools, 12 middle schools, one combined middle/high school, and 37 elementary schools, and is supplemented with many private schools. FCPS opened two new elementary schools in August 2016, and opened a new high school in August 2017. Fayette County Public Schools' Fiscal Year 2023 – 2024 general fund budget is $677,440,375. The two traditional colleges are the University of Kentucky, which is the state's flagship public university, and Transylvania University, which is the state's oldest four year university and the first university west of the Alleghenies.

Lexington's largest daily circulating newspaper is the Lexington Herald Leader. Business Lexington is a monthly business newspaper. The Chevy Chaser Magazine and Southsider Magazine serves the community as a free online newspaper. The region is also served by eight primary television stations, including WLEX, WKYT, WDKY, WTVQ, WLJC, WUPX, WKLE, WKON. The state's public television network, Kentucky Educational Television, is headquartered in Lexington and is one of the nation's largest public networks, reaching all 1.6 million television households in the state.

Interstate 75 runs north–south on the edge of Lexington. Interstate 64 runs east–west on the northern edge of the city. Lexington itself is at the confluence of US Route 25, US Route 27, US Route 60, US Route 68 and US Route 421. Lexington suffers considerable traffic congestion for a city of its size due to the lack of freeways, the proximity of the University of Kentucky to downtown, and the substantial number of commuters from outlying towns. For traffic relief on northern New Circle Road, Citation Boulevard is planned.

The Southern Railway, well into the 1960s, ran passenger trains through its Lexington station on a Cincinnati Florida route: the Ponce de Leon and the Royal Palm. The last remnant of the Royal Palm left Lexington in 1970. Union Station, open from 1907 and demolished in March 1960, hosted the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway and the Louisville and Nashville. The C&O's Louisville Ashland connector train to the company's George Washington ran until 1970.

The Blue Grass Airport is on the west side of Lexington on US Route 60. It has passenger flights by four carriers: Allegiant, American, Delta and United.

In 2019, 79.3% of working Lexingtonians commuted by driving alone, 9.3% carpooled, 2.0% used public transportation, and 3.0% walked. 1.9% of commuters used all other forms of transportation, including taxi, bicycle, and motorcycle. About 4.4% worked from home. In 2015, 7.2 percent of city of Lexington households were without a car, which increased slightly to 7.4 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Lexington averaged 1.7 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household.

Primary law enforcement duties within Lexington Fayette County are the responsibility of the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Division of Police. As of July 1, 2021, the Division of Police (also called Lexington Police Department) is authorized for 639 sworn police officers and 16 traffic safety officers. The Division of Police resulted from the merger of the Lexington Police Department with the Fayette County Patrol in 1974. The Fayette County Sheriff's Office is responsible for court service, including court security, prisoner transport, process and warrant service, and property tax collection. The 1974 merger also consolidated the office of city jailer into the office of county jailer, a constitutional position. In 1992 (effective 1993), the Kentucky General Assembly enabled a correctional services division to be established by ordinance, making employees civil service employees rather than political appointees.

All fire/rescue protection within Lexington Fayette County (with the exception of the Blue Grass Airport) is provided by the Lexington Fire Department. The current department was formed with the merger of the county and city fire departments in 1973. Lexington Fire Department is the largest single fire department in Kentucky with over 600 personnel and 24 individual fire stations broken into five districts (battalions).