Henderson County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The county is located in western Kentucky on the Ohio River across from Evansville, Indiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,793. Its county seat is Henderson. The county was formed in 1798 and named for Richard Henderson who purchased 17,000,000 acres of land from the Cherokee, part of which would later make up the county. Henderson County lies within the West Kentucky Coal Field area.