county

Lawrence County, KY

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

AI Overview

Lawrence County, KY is a small Appalachian county of 16,171 residents with a labor force participation rate of just 44.3% and an unemployment rate of 6.0%, reflecting a structurally constrained workforce where only 14.2% hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Median worker earnings stand at $31,758 against a median household income of $46,772, with a poverty rate of 22.0% and a GDP per capita of $25,483. Housing costs are low—median home value of $108,100 and median gross rent of $729/month—and the county posted modest population growth of 2.5% over five years, with a homeownership rate of 77.8%.

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

Population

16,171

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$46,772

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.5% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone15,593 (97.0%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races236 (1.5%)
  • Asian Alone214 (1.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race16 (0.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone13 (0.1%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone5 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)190
  2. 2.Other Indo-European46
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic20
  4. 4.Spanish16
  5. 5.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)14

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

56.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

612

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$25,483

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$24,027

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

22.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,525
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)841
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)533
  4. 4.Public Administration (Group)425
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services352

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,771
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,225
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,123
  4. 4.Service Occupations875
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations532

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.28×)193
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.54×)479
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.38×)346
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.24×)1,539
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.22×)707

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$108,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$729/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

77.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999855 (17.3%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999530 (10.7%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999358 (7.3%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999318 (6.4%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999313 (6.3%)
  • $60,000 to $69,999297 (6.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

14.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

79.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

44.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$31,758

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

30.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone4,424 (83.9%)
  • Carpooled419 (8.0%)
  • Worked At Home289 (5.5%)
  • Walked87 (1.7%)
  • Other33 (0.6%)
  • Public Transit18 (0.3%)

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.