Kentucky Population and Demographics

Are you tired of spending 10+ hours searching for demographic and population data for Kentucky? We have all of the data you need by state, county, city, and zip code that will save you many hours of research!

In this article, we'll explore most of the 190+ data points we have for Kentucky, covering popular demographics statistics like household income, race, age and gender, educational attainment, poverty, housing, and transportation.

The data on this page is from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey from the US Census Bureau.

Richest Zip Codes in Kentucky

In the table below, we've ranked the richest zip codes in Kentucky based on the average (or mean) household income. To do this, we only look at zip codes that have a population of at least 500 people and a reasonable margin of error for the data.

If the margin of error for the mean income is greater than 50% of the estimate, we don't use it. This is to try and make the data less likely to be skewed by outliers with very small population areas or estimates that are not very accurate.

To view details demographics data for a specific zip code, click on the link in the table above. You can also read our article here on the richest zip codes in Kentucky.

Richest Cities in Kentucky

We can also find the same information for the richest cities in Kentucky. The table below ranks the top 10 cities in Kentucky by average household income by using the same criteria as we did with the zip codes.

To view details demographics data for a specific city, click on the link in the table above. You can also read our article here on the richest cities in Kentucky.

Median Household Income

According to the latest ACS 5-year survey in 2022, the median household income in Kentucky is $60,183.00.

The chart below shows the average household income by age in Kentucky.

• Under 25
  $36,225.00
• 25 to 44
  $69,951.00
• 45 to 64
  $70,626.00
• 65 and over
  $45,428.00

Average Household Income

A very commonly asked question is "what is the average household income in Kentucky?". The official term for the average household income is the mean household income. The mean household income is the total income of all households divided by the number of households.

The average (or mean) household income in Kentucky is $83,093.00.

6.04% of households in Kentucky are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers for Kentucky

We can also look at the household income tiers. This lets you see how many households fall into each of the earnings brackets and what percentage that bracket is of the total number of households.

The chart below shows the household income brackets to see which age groups have the highest median income. The actual data is more granular than these brackets, but we've simplified them into bigger categories to make reviewing the data for Kentucky easier to view.

You can purchase the raw data above, which will have the full income tiers with smaller jumps in household income.

• Less than $24,999
  20.66%
• $25,000 to $49,999
  21.52%
• $50,000 to $74,999
  17.44%
• $75,000 to $99,999
  12.81%
• $100,000 to $149,999
  15.23%
• $150,000 to $199,999
  6.28%
• $200,000 or more
  6.04%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income is the average income of all people in Kentucky. This is calculated by dividing the total income of all people in Kentucky by the total number of people in Kentucky.

It differs from the average or mean household income because it includes all people in Kentucky and not just the people who earn an income (i.e. children, retirees, unemployed, etc.).

The per capita income in Kentucky is $33,515.00.

Population in Kentucky by Race and Ethnicity

The total population in Kentucky is currently 4,502,935 people.

The race and ethnicity of the population in Kentucky can be very important for social research, economics, and marketing to a multi-culturial society.

Whether you want to target products or services to a particular race or ethnicity, or provide housing and new businesses to improve areas with a larger ethnic minority population, this data is very valuable for discovering suitable areas.

The chart below breaks down the population and percentage for each race and ethnicity in Kentucky.

• 1.10% White
  47,383
• 96.00% Black/African American
  4,322,454
• 83.20% Native
  3,748,657
• 2.90% Hispanic
  129,777
• 7.90% Asian
  355,368
• 0.10% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
  3,902
• 0.10% Two or more races
  3,167
• 1.50% Other
  68,569

Population of Kentucky by Age and Gender

Another very important demographics statistic for Kentucky is the age and gender of the population. The age and gender of the population can be used to track trends in population growth or decline, and for businesses, the data can be used to identify people important to you and your business need.

In the table below, we show age groups at a 10 year granularity for ease of use. The raw data, which can be purchased above, includes age and gender at a 5 year granularity.

Education Levels

Educational attainment is a very useful statistic that can give insights into other data such as the average household income, unemployment levels, and literacy.

What this means is that it is likely for areas that have higher levels of education to have higher average household incomes, lower unemployment rates, and higher literacy rates.

The chart below shows the educational attainment of the population in Kentucky.

• Master's degree or higher
  13.52%
• Bachelor's degree
  26.81%
• Some college or associate's degree
  11.82%
• High school diploma or equivalent
  45.21%
• Less than high school diploma
  2.65%

Unemployment Rates

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the population that is actively looking for work but is unable to find a job. The unemployment rate is a very important statistic for Kentucky because it can show how many people are actively looking for work and how many people are unable to find a job.

Lower levels of unemployment is generally seen as a positive sign for the economy. It also makes the government in Kentucky look good because it shows that they are doing a good job of creating jobs, working to capacity, being efficient, and keeping the economy strong.

The unemployment rate is calculated using the total population in Kentucky that are over the age of 16.

The current population in Kentucky that are over the age of 16 is 3,607,440 people.

The unemployment rate in Kentucky is 5.10%, which means 108,558 people are unemployed.

Median Age in Kentucky

The median age is an interesting metric because it gives us an idea of the age distribution of people in Kentucky. You know when you see a median age that it is the age where half of the population is older and half is younger than it.

For demographic studies, this can be used to infer and compare date to things such as birth rates, the age of parents, and so on.

An increasing median age can be a sign of an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population. This is because older people tend to have fewer children and die more often than younger people.

The median age in Kentucky is 39.1 years old.

We can also look at the median age by gender to compare the see how each group compares to the total median age:

Median age by gender in Kentucky

39.1

Total

37.8

Male

40.4

Female

Households and Families

There are a total of 1,769,102 households in Kentucky, and the average household size is 2.48 people.

For families, the total number is 1,142,472, and the average family size is 3.06 people.

11.70% of those families in Kentucky are living below the poverty line.

The table below shows the poverty thresholds for Kentucky in .

Households and Families by Marital Status

There are four types of household and family, as defined by the Census Bureau:

• Married-couple
• Male householder, no spouse present
• Female householder, no spouse present
• Nonfamily household

In the table below, you can see the total households and families in Kentucky for each type, as well as the average sizes.

Housing Data in Kentucky

There are total of 1,999,202 housing units in Kentucky. Of those units, 1,769,102 (88.49%) are occupied, and 230,100 (11.51%) are vacant.

Rental Rates

Of the 1,999,202 housing units in Kentucky, 514,578 (25.74%) are occupied by renters. The median rent paid by renters is $902.00.

Owner occupied housing units make up the remaining 60.28% of housing units, with 1,205,067 housing units in total.

The table below breaks down how much rent is paid by renters in Kentucky.

• No rent paid
  49,457
• Less than $500
  62,984
• $500 to $999
  253,087
• $1,000 to $1,499
  151,765
• $1,500 to $1,999
  35,139
• $2,000 to $2,499
  7,266
• $2,500 to $2,999
  1,892
• $3,000 or more
  2,445

Property Values

The median value of a property in Kentucky is $177,000.00.

The table below breaks down the range of valuations for all properties in Kentucky.

• Less than $50,000
  119,406
• $50,000 to $99,999
  170,726
• $100,000 to $149,999
  194,805
• $150,000 to $199,999
  199,366
• $200,000 to $299,999
  260,832
• $300,000 to $499,999
  186,182
• $500,000 to $999,999
  62,114
• $1,000,000 or more
  11,636

Property Age

We can also look at the number of properties built in a given year to see the spread of property age in Kentucky.

• 1939 or earlier
  187,512
• 1940 to 1949
  83,508
• 1950 to 1959
  178,073
• 1960 to 1969
  205,699
• 1970 to 1979
  317,731
• 1980 to 1989
  244,577
• 1990 to 1999
  326,878
• 2000 to 2009
  285,496
• 2010 to 2013
  158,959
• 2014 or later
  10,769

Vehicles Available per Household

Finally, we have data on how many vehicles each household in Kentucky has. The table below breaks down the number of vehicles available per household.

• No vehicles available
  119,183
• 1 vehicle available
  562,607
• 2 vehicles available
  666,222
• 3 or more vehicles available
  421,090

Commuting to Work in Kentucky

The time and means of commuting to work are useful metrics to look at because they can be correlated against other data such as income and education level.

Does a longer commuting time indicate a higher average income? If so, has the huge increase in home working during the pandemic changed this?

Using these metrics, we can get a better understanding of the demographics of Kentucky, how they commute, and how that correlates to other data points.

The average travel time is 23.9 minutes, and the chart below covers the range of travel times across the population of Kentucky.

• Less than 5 minutes
  63,798
• 5 to 9 minutes
  209,410
• 10 to 14 minutes
  282,997
• 15 to 19 minutes
  309,051
• 20 to 24 minutes
  284,021
• 25 to 29 minutes
  126,911
• 30 to 34 minutes
  219,526
• 35 to 39 minutes
  54,702
• 40 to 44 minutes
  56,158
• 45 to 59 minutes
  115,606
• 60 to 89 minutes
  70,896
• 90 or more minutes
  42,227

We can also look at the means of transport in Kentucky to see which modes of transport people are using to commute to work.

• Drove alone
  1,574,496
• Carpooled
  181,776
• Public transportation
  14,607
• Walked
  39,648
• Other means
  24,776
• Worked from home
  158,544

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has given you the demographics data you were looking for in Kentucky.

If you need more demographics data, or you need the data listed above in spreadsheet form with more granular grouping, head back to the top of this page where you can purchase the complete demographics data for Kentucky.

Link To or Reference This Page

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