county

Simpson County, KY

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

AI Overview

Simpson County is a small south-central Kentucky county of roughly 19,800 residents that has grown 9.5% over five years, pointing to steady in-migration for an area its size. The labor pool of about 11,900 workers (60.0% participation rate) skews toward blue-collar and trade occupations, with only 16.8% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, median worker earnings of $36,806, and an unemployment rate of 3.9%. Housing costs remain relatively contained—median home value of $195,700 and median gross rent of $1,011/month—while a GDP per capita of $52,798 runs notably above the median household income of $59,858, suggesting meaningful industrial or manufacturing output relative to the county's modest wage base.

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

Population

19,786

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$59,858

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

38.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+9.5% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone16,804 (84.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,381 (6.9%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,159 (5.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race479 (2.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone96 (0.5%)
  • Asian Alone31 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish210
  2. 2.Other Indo-European37
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic21
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)20
  5. 5.Arabic12

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,177

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$52,798

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$28,786

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

15.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)2,006
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,668
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,329
  4. 4.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities961
  5. 5.Construction (Group)720

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,896
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,295
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,882
  4. 4.Service Occupations1,304
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations870

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.28×)2,039
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.49×)309
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.41×)1,383
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.25×)660
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 1.25×)529

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$195,700

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,011/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

66.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,999837 (15.6%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999713 (13.3%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999642 (12.0%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999489 (9.1%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999425 (7.9%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999425 (7.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

16.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

89.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

60.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,806

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

21.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

3.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone7,167 (79.2%)
  • Carpooled1,194 (13.2%)
  • Worked At Home484 (5.3%)
  • Walked148 (1.6%)
  • Other28 (0.3%)
  • Public Transit22 (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.