Owensboro is the principal city of the Owensboro metropolitan area, located on US Route 60 and Interstate 165 about 107 miles (172 km) southwest of Louisville. The population was 57,265 according to the 2010 census. The population of the metropolitan area was estimated to be 116,506.

As of 2018, the metropolitan area was the sixth largest in the state, and when micropolitan areas are included, it is the seventh largest in the state. The Kentucky Electrical Lamp Company, a light bulb manufacturing company founded in 1899, was later acquired by Kentucky Radio Company (Ken-Rad) in 1918, General Electric in 1945, and MPD, Inc. in 1987, created the light bulbs that illuminated the first night game in Major League Baseball history on May 24, 1935, between the Reds and Phillies at Cincinnati's Crosley Field.

The Owensboro plant was a key component of General Electric's vacuum tube manufacturing operations, producing both receiving and military/industrial ceramic vacuum tubes. Engineers at the General Electric plant in Owensboro introduced the Compactron vacuum tube family in 1961. The Owensboro Oilers play in the collegiate wood-bat Ohio Valley League.

The Oilers won the KIT League playoff championship in 2008 and the season championship in 2006. The team is named after the 1940s baseball minor league farm team "Owensboro Oilers." Many high schools in the city produced talented college and professional athletes.

Since 1954, Owensboro has been governed by a City Manager form of government. The Board of Commissioners is made up of four city commissioners elected by the citizens. The Board of Commissioners is the city government's legislative body, and it represents the interests of the citizens. The Board of Commissioners appoints a city manager to oversee the city's day-to-day operations.