county

Barren County, KY

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

AI Overview

Barren County is a small south-central Kentucky county of 44,670 residents with a modest but growing economic base, posting 2.3% population growth over five years and a GDP per capita of $31,530. The labor force participation rate is relatively low at 54.8%, unemployment sits at 4.8%, and just 17.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, pointing to a workforce that skews toward trades and lower-credential occupations with median worker earnings of $33,706. Housing costs remain low—median home value of $166,900 and median gross rent of $784/month—while a 21.0% poverty rate and per capita income of $28,422 reflect constrained household economics across the county.

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

Population

44,670

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$50,628

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

39.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.3% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone39,527 (88.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,713 (3.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,272 (2.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,190 (2.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone662 (1.5%)
  • Asian Alone416 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,205
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic605
  3. 3.Other Indo-European149
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic101
  5. 5.Other Asian and Pacific Island70

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

17.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,044

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$31,530

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$28,422

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

21.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)4,005
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,980
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)2,501
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,612
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities1,191

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations5,601
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,460
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations3,783
  4. 4.Service Occupations2,813
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,973

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.13×)3,919
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.91×)563
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.12×)973
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.06×)2,129
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.05×)448

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$166,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$784/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

65.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,568 (13.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,443 (12.3%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9991,170 (10.0%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,070 (9.1%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999974 (8.3%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999899 (7.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

17.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

86.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

54.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$33,706

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

23.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

8.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone14,124 (77.3%)
  • Carpooled2,194 (12.0%)
  • Worked At Home1,333 (7.3%)
  • Walked275 (1.5%)
  • Other227 (1.2%)
  • Public Transit74 (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.