county

McLean County, KY

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

AI Overview

McLean County, KY is a small rural county of 9,127 residents with an economy reflected in a GDP per capita of $25,316 against median worker earnings of $47,355, suggesting a workforce concentrated in industries outside the county seat. The labor pool skews older (median age 43.3) and largely native-born (0.9% foreign-born), with 92.1% holding a high school diploma but only 18.4% holding a bachelor's degree, and labor force participation sits at a relatively low 55.9% with a 6.6% unemployment rate. Housing costs are low—median home value of $145,600 and median gross rent of $602/month with an 82.8% homeownership rate—though the county posted a -2.2% population decline over five years, pointing to ongoing outmigration pressure.

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

Population

9,127

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$65,596

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-2.2% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone8,730 (95.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races216 (2.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone48 (0.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race42 (0.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone35 (0.4%)
  • Asian Alone28 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish143
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic3
  3. 3.Other Indo-European3
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic2
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)1

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

430

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$25,316

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,206

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

9.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance936
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)594
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)350
  4. 4.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities322
  5. 5.Construction (Group)283

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,365
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations778
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations754
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations543
  5. 5.Service Occupations390

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.44×)270
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.82×)160
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.43×)257
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.34×)354
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.30×)290

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$145,600

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$602/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

82.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999369 (12.2%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999309 (10.3%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999288 (9.6%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999273 (9.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999251 (8.3%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999238 (7.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

92.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

55.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$47,355

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone3,120 (82.7%)
  • Carpooled343 (9.1%)
  • Worked At Home257 (6.8%)
  • Other25 (0.7%)
  • Walked22 (0.6%)
  • Public Transit4 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare McLean County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.