Flatwoods is a city located in Greenup County, Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total estimated population of 7,243. Flatwoods is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Buford Hurley II is the city's mayor.

​

Flatwoods was originally named Advance; Advance Methodist Church formed a Sunday school beginning in 1860. The name was later changed to Cheap, after John Cheap, a blind Methodist minister. The City returned to the name of Advance with a post office established in 1918. In 1938, the Post Office was renamed Flatwoods, and the town was incorporated in 1938 under that name.

​

The name of Flatwoods comes from the areas original topography, a belt of flat wooded land, approximately 650 feet in elevation, running parallel to the Ohio River.

​

Flatwoods is referred to as a "bedroom community" not having any large employer within the City. Many residents work at CSX Railroad, Marathon Oil, and Kings Daughters Medical Center. There are three institutions of higher education located within 20-30 minutes of Flatwoods. The Ohio University Southern Campus, Marshall University, and Ashland Community & Technical College. Greenbo State Park is located within 25 minutes of Flatwoods.

​

Our most notable citizen is country music singer/songwriter/actor Billy Ray Cyrus.