county

Laurel County, KY

Demographic and economic profile of Laurel County, KY, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Laurel County, KY is a small regional economy of about 62,700 residents with a labor force participation rate of 54.5% and an unemployment rate of 3.6%, reflecting a workforce that skews toward trade and service sectors in a largely domestic population (1.2% foreign-born). Educational attainment is below national norms, with 16.5% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, though labor costs are correspondingly low, with median worker earnings of $37,134 and a median household income of $57,771. Housing costs are notably low—median home value of $143,400 and median gross rent of $789/month—alongside a 4.2% population gain over five years and a poverty rate of 21.3%, pointing to an affordable but economically pressured market.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

62,731

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$57,771

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+4.2% since 2018

Laurel County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone60,016 (95.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,288 (2.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race625 (1.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone352 (0.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone344 (0.5%)
  • Asian Alone195 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish471
  2. 2.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)232
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island124
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic109
  5. 5.Other Indo-European48

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,675

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$36,256

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$27,944

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

21.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance5,698
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)4,449
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)4,250
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services2,700
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services2,216

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations8,173
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations6,140
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations5,714
  4. 4.Service Occupations4,439
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,202

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.73×)4,550
  2. 2.Retail Trade (LQ 1.54×)4,429
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.06×)1,638
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 0.96×)1,197
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 0.95×)5,831

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$143,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$789/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

71.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,972 (11.5%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,926 (11.2%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,576 (9.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9991,566 (9.1%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,354 (7.9%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,164 (6.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

16.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

83.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

54.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,134

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone19,973 (76.1%)
  • Carpooled3,320 (12.7%)
  • Worked At Home2,283 (8.7%)
  • Other343 (1.3%)
  • Walked224 (0.9%)
  • Motorcycle45 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.