We’re more than just Bourbon and horses…

With its Midwestern sensibilities and southern hospitality, Louisville is the regional economic hub and cultural and artistic heart of 24 surrounding counties in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Within a day's drive of two-thirds of the U.S. population, Louisville is also a strategic location for thousands of companies, including UPS Worldport, Clariant Corporation, Ford Motor Company, GE Appliances, Yum Brands!, Humana, Brown-Forman, and Texas Roadhouse.

  • MSA Population: 1,291,985

  • Total Regional Employment: 719,258

  • Median Household Income: $69.8K

  • Key Industry Sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Business Services (HQ Operations), Food and Beverage, Logistics, and Health and Aging Innovation

  • Interstate access: I-64, I-65, and I-71

  • Drive time to:

    • Cincinnati, OH - 99 miles, 1 hour and 43 minutes

    • Indianapolis, IN - 114 miles, 1 hour and 50 minutes

    • Nashville, TN - 175 miles, 2 hours and 39 minutes

    • St. Louis, MO - 260 miles, 3 hours and 54 minutes

    • Chicago, IL - 296 miles, 4 hours and 32 minutes

Louisville,
Kentucky

Unparalleled Connectivity

Louisville’s access to rail, runway, road, and river infrastructure means you can easily get people and products across the globe in a matter of hours.

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) is not just the gateway to Bourbon Country, but it’s also the front door for more than 4 million travelers annually. With access to more than 37 nonstop destinations to Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, and more, leisure and business travelers have access to more destinations than ever before. In 2023, Louisville Muhammad Ali International airport was the fastest growing airport in North America by added seat capacity.

If you are traveling through Louisville now or in the near future, you’ll get a glimpse of SDF’s impressive growth as the $500 million renovation and expansion, SDF Next, is currently underway. The renovation includes an interior/exterior terminal refresh, additional parking options, expanded security, new shopping and dining, and the construction of a new international terminal and customs facility.

Allegiant, American Airlines, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, and United Airlines offer coast-to-coast service from SDF.

UPS Worldport

Louisville is home to the largest automated package handling facility in the world—UPS Worldport. This innovative hub also serves as the center point of the UPS worldwide air network, with a prime location that allows UPS to reach 95% of the US populace in just four hours flying.

The 5.2 million square foot facility employs more than 20,000 people who staff an operation that sorts more than 416,000 packages per hour. Companies that have time-sensitive products and clients around the world benefit from the more than 300 daily arriving and departing flights.

UPS employs an innovative staffing model through its Metropolitan College Program. Participants in the program are able to earn a free college education at the University of Louisville and Jefferson Community and Technical College all while working part-time, earning a competitive wage, and receiving milestone bonuses. More than 22,000 students have utilized Metropolitan College benefits, and over 13k certificates, associate, bachelor, and graduate degrees have been earned.

Major Interstate, Rail and Waterway Access

Completed in 2016, the $2.5 billion Ohio River Bridges Project saw the addition of a new Downtown Louisville bridge crossing the Ohio River carrying traffic on I-65 northbound and an additional crossing on Louisville’s east end carrying northbound traffic on I-265. Major interstates including I-64, I-65, I-71, I-264 and I-265 intersect across the region and provide access to all corners of the United States.

Founded in 1778 at the Falls of the Ohio, Louisville was established as a major logistics and commercial hub from its beginning. Louisville Riverport is one of the two inland ports located in the region, with the other being Ports of Indiana-Jeffersonville located in Indiana’s Clark County. Louisville Riverport has developed over 2,000 acres of industrial and commercial real estate in Louisville and continues to offer great opportunities for investment today.

For companies seeking access to railways, Louisville is served by Norfolk Southern, CSX, BNSF, and Paducah and Louisville Railway.

Louisville’s Largest Employers