county

Leslie County, KY

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

AI Overview

Leslie County is a small rural Kentucky county of 10,261 residents with an economy that generates a GDP per capita of just $15,324, reflecting limited industrial output and a labor force participation rate of only 44.9%—among the lowest indicators of workforce engagement. The available workforce skews toward lower educational attainment, with only 10.4% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, though housing costs are notably low, with a median home value of $74,100 and median gross rent of $520 per month supporting an 85.5% homeownership rate. The county faces structural headwinds including a 7.4% unemployment rate, a 27.3% poverty rate, and a 2.0% population decline over the past five years, with median household income of $35,934 and median worker earnings of $33,268 pointing to a low-wage labor market.

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

Population

10,261

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$35,934

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-2.0% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone9,727 (96.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races252 (2.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race70 (0.7%)
  • Black or African American Alone20 (0.2%)
  • Asian Alone10 (0.1%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone0 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic66
  2. 2.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)33
  3. 3.Spanish23
  4. 4.Other Indo-European2

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

18.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

263

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$15,324

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$22,942

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

7.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

27.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance917
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)506
  3. 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining450
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)419
  5. 5.Public Administration (Group)313

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations930
  2. 2.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations736
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations693
  4. 4.Service Occupations560
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations437

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 7.16×)398
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 2.08×)343
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.67×)341
  4. 4.Manufacturing (LQ 1.34×)466
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.27×)480

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$74,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$520/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

85.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $20,000 to $24,999379 (10.5%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999317 (8.8%)
  • $50,000 to $59,999315 (8.7%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999310 (8.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999298 (8.2%)
  • $60,000 to $69,999273 (7.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

10.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

81.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

44.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$33,268

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

36.8 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

8.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone2,554 (80.0%)
  • Carpooled507 (15.9%)
  • Worked At Home129 (4.0%)
  • Walked4 (0.1%)
  • Public Transit0 (0.0%)
  • Taxi0 (0.0%)

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.