county

Ballard County, KY

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

AI Overview

Ballard County is a small, rural Kentucky county with a population of 7,678 that has contracted 5.1% over five years, pointing to ongoing outmigration pressure. The labor force participation rate of 55.2% is low, and only 18.7% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, though the high school attainment rate reaches 93.7% and unemployment sits at 4.1%. Housing costs are modest—median home value of $132,900 and median gross rent of $826/month—against a median household income of $66,164, with a homeownership rate of 79.7% reflecting the area's predominantly owner-occupied residential base.

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

Population

7,678

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$66,164

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

45.0 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-5.1% since 2018

Ballard County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone7,023 (91.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone275 (3.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races229 (3.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race89 (1.2%)
  • Asian Alone22 (0.3%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone12 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Other Asian and Pacific Island193
  2. 2.Arabic29
  3. 3.Other Indo-European21
  4. 4.Spanish18
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic10

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

20.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

22.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

354

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$34,763

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,469

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

13.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance853
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)467
  3. 3.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities345
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)335
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services265

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,183
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations637
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations578
  4. 4.Service Occupations519
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations480

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.37×)126
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.66×)323
  3. 3.Manufacturing (LQ 1.43×)475
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.35×)312
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 1.21×)190

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$132,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$826/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

76.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999257 (10.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999253 (10.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999209 (8.6%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999174 (7.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999173 (7.1%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999170 (7.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

55.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$38,831

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

26.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone2,962 (87.2%)
  • Carpooled259 (7.6%)
  • Worked At Home87 (2.6%)
  • Walked54 (1.6%)
  • Other14 (0.4%)
  • Motorcycle12 (0.4%)

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.