county

Owsley County, KY

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

AI Overview

Owsley County is a small rural Kentucky county of 4,021 residents with an economy reflected in a GDP per capita of just $13,157 and a median household income of $22,188, among the lowest benchmarks in the state. The available labor pool is constrained, with a labor force participation rate of 41.2%, an unemployment rate of 11.3%, and only 11.4% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher. Housing costs are exceptionally low—median home values of $79,900 and median gross rent of $551 per month—though the county has shed 9.9% of its population over five years and carries a 24.9% poverty rate.

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

Population

4,021

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$22,188

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

47.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-9.9% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone3,794 (95.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race93 (2.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races77 (1.9%)
  • Asian Alone7 (0.2%)
  • Black or African American Alone0 (0.0%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone0 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

Not yet cached for this geography.

Population Under 18

18.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

64

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$13,157

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$21,285

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

11.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

24.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance299
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)136
  3. 3.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities108
  4. 4.Other Services, Except Public Administration (Group)105
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services103

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Service Occupations328
  2. 2.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations261
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations217
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations169
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations158

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Public Administration (LQ 2.82×)164
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.40×)101
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.38×)396
  4. 4.Manufacturing (LQ 1.00×)122
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 0.88×)118

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$79,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$551/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

70.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $10,000 to $14,999154 (14.0%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999128 (11.6%)
  • Less Than $10,000118 (10.7%)
  • $30,000 to $34,99980 (7.3%)
  • $80,000 to $89,99974 (6.7%)
  • $50,000 to $59,99970 (6.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

11.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

73.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

41.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$28,071

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

14.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone790 (72.8%)
  • Carpooled136 (12.5%)
  • Worked At Home99 (9.1%)
  • Other32 (2.9%)
  • Walked28 (2.6%)
  • Public Transit0 (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.